The economic situation in the European Union is currently far from satisfactory. Eurostat said that in April 2020, the eurozone’s external trade surplus (including non-member countries) amounted to €2.9 billion. According to experts, this is an extremely low figure.
In March this year, the EU foreign trade surplus reached €28.2 billion. In April last year, this figure was slightly lower: the euro area recorded an external trade surplus of €15.5 billion.
Exports from the 19 countries sharing the euro to the non-eurozone economies plunged by 29.3% to €136.6 billion in April compared to the corresponding period in 2019. Imports fell by 24.8% to €133.7 billion.
From January to April 2020, the eurozone's exports of goods decreased by 8.6% to € 703.3 billion compared to the same period last year. During the reporting period, imports dropped by 9.3%, totalling €646.3 billion. At the same time, the foreign trade surplus remained almost unchanged at the level of €57 billion.
According to Eurostat, the 27 European Union countries recorded a €0.2 billion surplus in trade with non-EU countries in April 2020. Notably, the surplus amounted to €22.2 billion in March 2020, while it totalled €12.9 billion in April 2019.