The Euro Area's trade surplus expanded to €12.5 billion in September 2024, up from €9.8 billion in the same month last year and significantly exceeding market forecasts of €7.9 billion.
Eurozone trade surplus larger than expected
This improvement was driven by a 0.6% increase in exports, which reached €237.8 billion, while imports saw a slight decline of 0.6% to €225.3 billion.
In the broader EU, the trade surplus grew to €9.6 billion in September, compared to €7.3 billion in September 2023. Exports rose by 0.8% to €212.6 billion, bolstered by strong sales of chemicals and related products (up 10%), other manufactured goods (up 0.4%), and food and drink (up 2.5%). Regionally, exports increased to the US (up 8.9%), the UK (up 2%), and Switzerland (up 5.1%), while declining to China (down 4.2%).
EU figures
Imports into the EU decreased by 0.3% to €203.1 billion, primarily due to a sharp drop in energy imports (down 20%). Among major trade partners, imports fell from the US (down 4.9%) and the UK (down 10.7%) but rose from China (up 12.5%).
