The first estimate for euro-zone trade with the rest of the world in December 2004 was a 5.7 billion euro surplus according to Eurostat, the European Union’s Statistical Office.  The trade surplus in the euro zone widened by more than expected but a decline in exports and imports confirmed the fragility of the bloc's economic growth.

The trade estimate of +5.7 bn is compared with +6.4 bn in December 2003. The November 2004 balance was +2.7 bn, compared with +5.2 bn in November 2003 . In December 2004 compared with November 2004, exports, seasonally adjusted, fell by 0.6% and imports by 1.4%.

Although the fall in exports was likely caused by the declining competitiveness of euro zone firms due to the strong euro, falling imports in the normally busy Christmas shopping period confirmed weak domestic demand.

The first estimate for December 2004 extra -EU25 trade was a 1.2 bn euro deficit, compared with -1.9 bn in December 2003 . In November 2004 2 the balance was -8.5 bn, compared with -5.9 bn in November 2003 . In December 2004, exports, seasonally adjusted, rose by 0.2% compared with November 2004, while imports fell by 0.6%.

During 2004, euro-zone trade recorded a surplus of 74.4 bn, compared with +69.7 bn in 2003. The EU25 recorded a deficit of 60.9 bn in 2004, compared with -57.8 bn in 2003.

In the EU25 January-November 2004 the energy deficit grew ( -135.3 bn euro in January-November 2004 compared with -118.6 bn in January-November 2003), while the surplus for machinery and vehicles rose strongly (+74.7 bn compared with +61.7 bn).

The surplus in the chemicals sector also increased (+60.3 bn compared with +56.5 bn).

Apart from imports from the USA, which fell (-1% comparing January-November 2004 with January-November2003), EU25 trade flows with its major partners grew. The most notable increases were for imports from China (+21%), Russia, Turkey and South Korea (+18% each), and for exports to Turkey (+ 30%), Russia (+22%), China (+17%) and Taiwan (+16%).

EU25 trade was characterized by an increase in the EU25 surplus with the USA (+69.9 bn euro in January-November 2004 compared with +62.4 in January-November 2003), Switzerland (+ 12.1 bn compared with +11.3 bn) and Turkey (+ 6.6 bn compared with +2.9 bn). The EU25 trade deficit increased with China (-71.6 bn compared with -58.2 bn), Russia (-31.6 bn compared with -28.0 bn ) and Norway (-23.2 bn compared with -21.0 bn), but decreased slightly with Japan (-28.3 bn compared with -28.7 bn).

Concerning the total trade of Member States, the largest surplus was observed in Germany (+146.4 bn euro in January-November 2004), followed by Ireland (+32.7 bn) , the Netherlands (+29.2 bn), Sweden (+17.3 bn) and Belgium (+16.5 bn). The United Kingdom registered the largest deficit (-87.9 bn), followed by Spain (-52.4 bn), Greece (-27.7 bn), Portugal (-13.9 bn), France (-11.6 bn) and Poland (-10.5 bn).