Eurozone trade surplus €17.1bn in November 2013

The eurozone was expected to register a trade surplus of 17.1 billion euros (23.3 U.S. dollars) in last November, up from a surplus of 12.5 billion euros in the same period of 2012, the European Union (EU) statistics office said Wednesday. Month-on-month, eurozone seasonally-adjusted exports fell by 0.2 percent and imports by 1.3 percent in November 2013. The EU also recorded a trade surplus of 3.4 billion euros, compared with a deficit of 3.0 billion euros in the same month of 2012, said Eurostat. From January to October in 2013, the EU trade deficit for energy decreased, while the surplus for manufactured goods increased. In the same period, EU imports from most of its major trade partners fell compared with the same period in 2012, except for Turkey and India, which grew by 3 percent and at stable respectively. Among member states, Germany had the largest surplus in the first 10 months of 2013 at 166.3 billion euros, while Britain registered the largest deficit at 66.5 billion euros.