By Gokhan Ergocun
ISTANBUL (AA) – The EU's exports and imports both increased on a yearly basis in July, by 10.3% and 18.7% respectively, official figures showed on Thursday.
The 27-member bloc's exports totaled €186.1 billion ($219.6 billion), while imports amounted to €170.4 billion, the statistical authority Eurostat said.
The average euro/US dollar exchange rate was 1.18 in the month.
The union's trade balance posted a surplus of €15.7 billion, down from €25.1 billion in the same month last year.
Intra-EU trade also soared 15.8% to stand at €277.7 billion year on year in July.
During the first seven months of this year, the EU's exports increased 13.2% to reach €1.23 trillion, while imports were up 14.7% to reach €1.13 trillion.
China was the bloc's main trade partner in the January-July period, with €130.7 billion imports from the union and €246.5 billion in exports.
Country-to-country trade balances indicated that the EU had incurred the largest deficit with China – €115.8 billion – and the highest surplus with the US – €98.2 billion – over the same period.
Turkey was the union's sixth-largest trade partner during the four-month period, with €43.6 billion imports from the union and €45 billion in exports.
On the eurozone side, extra-EA exports increased 11.4% to €206 billion in July. The trade surplus was €20.7 billion, down from €26.8 billion in July 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.