EU posts $4.9B foreign trade deficit in October

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) – The European Union posted a trade deficit of €4.2 billion ($4.9 billion) in October, official figures showed on Thursday.

The 27-member bloc's exports totaled €190.7 billion, up 6.4%, while imports amounted to €194.9 billion, up 29.1%, the statistical authority Eurostat said.

The average euro/US dollar exchange rate during the month was 1.16.

The union's trade balance in October was €28.2 billion.

Intra-EU trade soared 13.8% to stand at €306.3 billion year-on-year in October.

During the first 10 months of the year, the union's exports totaled €1.78 trillion while imports amounted to €1.69 trillion, up 12.7% and 19.4%, respectively.

China was the bloc's main trade partner in January-October, with €373.8 billion in imports to the union and €183.7 billion in exports.

Country-to-country trade balances indicated that the EU had incurred its largest deficit with China – €189.2 billion – and the highest surplus with the US – €139.5 billion – over the same period.

Turkey was the union's sixth-largest trade partner during the 10-month period, with €64.2 billion in imports from the union and €64 billion in exports.

On the eurozone side, extra-EA exports climbed 7.3% to €214 billion in October. The trade surplus was €3.6 billion, down from €29.8 billion in October 2020.

The eurozone/euro area or the EA19 represents the member states that use the euro as their single currency, while the EU27 includes all member countries of the bloc.