EU records $9.5B foreign trade deficit in November 2021

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) – The European Union’s foreign trade balance saw an €8.3 billion ($9.5 billion) deficit in November 2021, the bloc’s statistical authority said on Friday.

The figure marked a slump from a surplus of €24.5 billion in November 2020, Eurostat data showed.

The 27-member bloc’s exports to the rest of the world rose 13.8% year-on-year to reach €201.4 billion in November, while imports were up 37.6% to €209.7 billion.

Intra-EU trade climbed 19.8% on an annual basis to €321.9 billion.

From January to November 2021, the EU’s exports to the world hit nearly €2 billion, a rise of 12.8% from the corresponding period of 2020, while imports were up 21.2% to €1.9 billion.

“As a result, the EU recorded a surplus of €78.8 billion, compared with €186.5 billion in January-November 2020,” Eurostat said.

- Trading partners

The US was the top market for EU exporters from January-November 2021, with a total volume of €363.3 billion, an increase of 12.6% compared to the same period in 2020.

The other major export markets were the UK, China, Switzerland, Russia and Turkiye.

On the other side, China was the main source of imports – €421.8 billion, an annual growth of 20.1%.

It was followed by the US, UK, Russia, Switzerland and Turkiye.

In the January-November 2021 period, the bloc had the largest deficit of €218 billion with China and the biggest surplus of €154.3 billion with the US.

With a trade volume of €142.9 billion, Turkiye was the EU’s sixth-largest trading partner during the first 11 months of 2021.

EU exports to the country stood at €71.7 billion, while the bloc’s imports from Turkiye amounted to €71.2 billion.