Eurozone Swings into Trade Deficit in May

The 15 nations sharing the euro saw their trade balance with the rest of the world swing into a deficit in May, official EU data showed on July 18.

The eurozone recorded a trade deficit of 4.6 billion euros (US$7.3 billion) in May this year after an April deficit of 2.5 billion euros, the European Union's Eurostat data agency said. In May 2007, the eurozone chalked up a trade surplus of 1.4 billion euros.

Imports rose 9% in May over one year to 133.3 billion euros, while exports rose 4% to 128.4 billion euros.

Meanwhile, the 27-nation EU showed a trade deficit of 21.5 billion euros in May, up from a deficit of 15.4 billion euros in April and a shortfall of 14.7 billion euros in May 2007.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008