(BRUSSELS) - The 15 nations sharing the euro saw their trade balance in deficit for the second staight month in June, though closer to parity with a shortfall of just 0.1 billion euros (0.15 billion dollars), EU data showed Monday.

The revised May figure was a trade deficit of 3.9 billion euros, according to the official Eurostat agency.

However the June figures were well below analysts' predictions of a 1.1-billion-euro trade surplus for June, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

In June 2007 the eurozone had chalked up a 7.5 billion euros trade surplus.

Imports in June this year rose by 11 percent while exports were up just five percent, Eurostat said.

Meanwhile, the 27-nation EU as a whole showed a trade deficit of 20.1 billion euros in June, down from 21.3 billion euros in May but much worse than the shortfall of 9.1 billion euros seen in June 2007.

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