Euro Zone Trade Deficit Widens
By PAUL HANNON
LONDON—The euro zone posted a wider-than-expected trade deficit in August as exports fell more rapidly than imports.
The European Union's statistics agency Eurostat said Friday the 16 countries that use the euro had a combined deficit in their trade in goods with the rest of the word of €4.3 billion ($6.05 billion), having had a surplus of €6.2 billion in July, a figure that was revised down from the previous estimate of €6.7 billion.
The deficit came as a surprise, with economists surveyed by Dow Jones last week having estimated that imports were equal to exports.
In August 2009, the euro zone had a trade deficit of €2.8 billion. Exports in August fell to €120.4 billion from €137.6 billion in July, while imports fell less sharply, to €124.6 billion from €131.4 billion. On a seasonally-adjusted basis, exports rose by 1% from July, while imports rose by 1.8%.
Germany continued to have the largest trade surplus in the currency area. In the first seven months of this year, it exported €87.7 billion more than it imported, up from €72.4 billion in the same period of 2009.
Ireland had the second largest trade surplus, exporting €24.7 billion more than it imported, while the Netherlands exported €22.1 billion more than it imported.
However, most other euro-zone nations had trade deficits, particularly those members that have seen their cost of borrowing soar as investors grow concernedabout their ability to repay large debts.
Spain's deficit for the first seven months stood at €30.2 billion, up from €26.9 billion in the same period of 2009,
while Greece had a deficit of €14.4 billion compared with €17.3 billion in the same period of 2009. Portugal's trade deficit for the first seven months rose to €11.4 billion from €10.5 billion, while Italy's deficit soared to €12.5 billion from €1.3 billion.
During the first seven months, the euro zone's trade surplus with the U.S. rose to €39.2 billion from €22.7 billion in the same period of 2009 as its exports increased by 13%. Imports from the U.S. were unchanged.
The euro zone's deficit with China widened, despite a 41% increase in exports. Indeed, the currency area's exports to a number of fast-growing developing economies have risen sharply, with sales to Brazil soaring by 57% and sales to Turkey rising by 38% from the first seven months of 2009.
However, its trade deficit with Russia increased, largely as a result of higher energy prices. The euro zone's deficit in energy products widened to €144 billion in the first seven months from €112.7 billion in the same period of 2009, offsetting a larger surplus in its trade in manufactured goods.
(The Wall Street journal)