EU, eurozone post trade deficits in October

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) – Both the EU and euro area saw huge trade deficits in October, according to official figures released on Friday.

The EU's trade balance posted a deficit of €38.2 billion ($40.5 billion), while the euro area's deficit was at €26.5 billion ($28.1 billion) in October, the bloc’s statistical office Eurostat said.

The 27-member union's exports totaled €225.2 billion in October and imports amounted to €263.4 billion, while these figures were at €252.8 billion and €279.3 billion, respectively, for the euro area.

During the first 10 months of the year, the EU's foreign trade deficit rose to €395.3 billion from a surplus of €80.1 billion in the same period last year.

The euro area's trade deficit was at €291.8 billion over the same period, while it was a surplus of €129.3 billion in the January-October period in 2021.

China was the EU's main trading partner in January-October, with €190.1 billion in imports from the union and €526.4 billion in exports to the bloc.

Country-to-country trade balances indicated that the EU had incurred its largest deficit with China – €336.3 billion – and the highest surplus with the US – €123.6 billion – over the same period.

With Türkiye, the EU posted a trade deficit of €2 billion in the January-October period.