Eurozone posts EUR 13.1 bn September trade surplus

(BRUSSELS) - The eurozone posted another big 12-month increase in its trade surplus on Monday, the latest monthly data from the EU's Eurostat agency showed.

The first estimate for September gave a 13.1-billion-euro surplus ($17.7 billion) for the trade in goods with the rest of the world, compared with 8.6 billion euros in September 2012.

A trade surplus is one of the factors of growth in an economy, whereas a deficit tends to sap growth, and so achieving a trade surplus is of critical importance to economies in crisis.

Compared to figures for August, the European Union said that the increase arose from a 1.0-percent increase in seasonally-adjusted exports, and a 0.3-percent fall in imports.

For the 28-state EU, also including non-euro Britain and Poland, the data for September showed a 0.6-billion-euro surplus, compared with a 14.5-billion deficit one year earlier.

Again, seasonally-adjusted exports rose, by 0.2 percent, while imports fell, by the same level.

Cumulative data for the first eight months of the year showed a falling EU energy trade deficit and a rising surplus for manufactured goods.

Imports most notably fell in trade with Japan (17 percent), Brazil (15 percent) and Norway (11 percent).

The biggest percentage boost for exports came from trade with Switzerland. These exports rose by 32 percent and generated a surplus of 56 billion euros.

But exports to India, the United States and Japan fell by 3.0-4.0 percent each.

The deficit in trade with China fell to 85.1 billion euros compared to 96.1 billion for the corresponding months in 2012.

Appreciable drops in the size of deficits were also recorded with Norway, Japan and Russia.

Germany -- whose booming trade surplus has become the object of political pressure from Brussels and from Washington -- posted the biggest surplus, of 127.8 billion euros between January and August this year.

As ever, France and Britain logged the biggest deficits in financial terms, of 45-50 billion each.

"The issue is whether Germany ... could do more to help rebalance the European economy," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said last week after ordering a six-month review of the benefits and drawbacks of Germany's lopsided weight in export markets compared to other euro countries.

The major downside of having such a large surplus, according to EU Economic Affairs and Euro Commissioner Olli Rehn, is that "Germans are constantly investing a large part of their savings abroad," with Rehn pondering "whether this is deficient even from a German perspective."

Euro area international trade in goods surplus 13.1 bn euro [Eurostat]