2019.03.1808:37:00UTC+00Eurozone Trade Surplus Falls In January

Eurozone's merchandise trade surplus for January decreased sharply from a year ago with the pace of increase in imports outpacing that of exports.

The trade surplus fell to EUR 1.5 billion in January from EUR 3.1 billion in the same month last year, figures from the euro area statistical office Eurostat showed on Monday.

Exports increased 2.5 percent year-on-year in January and imports rose 3.4 percent.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the trade surplus rose to EUR 17 billion from EUR 16 billion in December. Economists had forecast a lower surplus of EUR 15.6 billion.

Seasonally adjusted exports rose 0.8 percent month-on-month and imports increased 0.3 percent.

In the EU28, exports increased an non-adjusted 2.1 percent and imports rose 3.9 percent in December.

The trade deficit widened to EUR 24.9 billion in January from EUR 21.4 billion a year ago.

In 2018, Eurozone exports rose 3.7 percent and imports went up to 6.6 percent. The trade surplus decreased to EUR 193.4 billion from EUR 240.8 billion in the same period last year.

In the January to December period, EU28 trade balance swung to a deficit of EUR 24.6 billion from a surplus of EUR 22.1 billion in the same period last year.

Exports grew 4.1 percent annually and imports rose 6.6 percent in January.