Eurozone goods surplus narrows in November; industrial output up

The eurozone's goods trade surplus missed expectations in November while industrial output growth was stronger than anticipated, data published by Eurostat showed Thursday.

First estimates of euro area balance showed a EUR9.9 billion surplus in trade in goods in November, down 46% from EUR18.4 billion, as Eurostat reported a month ago for October, and 36% lower than EUR15.4 billion in November 2024. It was worse than a milder reduction in the surplus to EUR15.2 billion that had been expected by the FXStreet-cited consensus.

Meanwhile, industrial production growth in the eurozone was 0.7% on-month in November, the same pace as in October, which was revised down from 0.8%. It beat the consensus of just 0.5% growth.

The sharpest monthly growth was in Estonia with 6.0%, followed by Lithuania with 5.8% and Cyprus with 1.8%. The worst monthly declines were in Luxembourg with 7.3%, Portugal with 3.0% and Belgium with 2.3%

Annual industrial production growth in the eurozone was 2.5% in November, up from 1.7% in October which was revised down from 2.0%. It beat the consensus of 2.0% growth for November.

The highest annual growth was in Ireland with 10.6%, followed by Cyprus with 10.5% and Croatia with 8.8%. The worst annual falls in industrial production in the eurozone were in Malta with 8.2%, followed by Slovakia with 4.5% and Luxembourg with 3.6%.