Exports fell the most since August of 2014 to € 178.8 billion, after rising 2 percent in May. Imports went down for the fourth consecutive month to € 149.5 billion. Considering the first six months of the year, sales from the Eurozone declined 1 percent and imports shrank 3 percent. As a result the trade surplus widened to € 134.5 billion, compared with a € 111.4 billion surplus a year earlier.
Considering the European Union, exports declined 5 percent to € 151.4 billion and imports fell 4 percent to € 143.8 billion, thus resulting in a € 7.7 billion surplus. In the first half of the year, both sales and purchases fell 4 percent: exports of primary goods declined 10 percent, mainly energy (-27 percent) and raw materials (-8 percent) while food sales increased 2 percent; shipments of manufactured goods went down 2 percent. Imports fell for primary goods (-22 percent) but rose for manufactured goods (+1 percent), mainly machinery and vehicles (+3 percent). Among main trade partners, sales fell to all main countries except japan (+3 percent) and imports from Russia fell the most (-23 percent), followed by Norway (-21 percent).
On a seasonally adjusted basis, exports in the common currency zone increased 0.5 percent from May of 2016 and imports rose at a faster 1.5 percent, thus narrowin the trade surplus by 4.9 percent to € 23.4 billion.