International trade in goods in the EU declined to €228 billion in March 2020, from €252 billion in January, due to the implementation of restrictive measures following the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Eurostat report.
The EU reported a decline in exports with its five main trade partners in this period.
Exports with Switzerland declined by 8.5%, followed by China (-7.1%), Russia (-6.8%), the United Kingdom (-6.2%), and the United States (-4.2%).
Imports from these five countries also fell during this period, with Switzerland and the United States recording 1.2% and 2.6% drop, respectively.
This decline was smaller compared to Russia (-8.2%), China (-10.9%) and the United Kingdom (-17.0%), the report added.
Decline In Total Trade
The United Kingdom (-10.4%) and China (-9.6%) reported the sharpest decline in total trade of 10.4% and 9.6% respectively among the five trade partners.
Trade with the United States declined 3.6%, while Switzerland reported a 5.3% drop and Russia 7.6%.
Among the EU’s 11 main trade partners, Turkey (-13.0%), India (-11.8%) and Norway (-11.7%) recorded the highest drop in total trade, while trade with South Korea only fell by 1.9%, the report said.
Trade Balance
The EU saw an increase in trade balance with eight of its 11 main trade partners in March when compared with the figures in January.
The highest increase of €2.1 billion was reported for trade with China followed by €1.2 billion for the UK.
Decline in trade balance was seen for Turkey (-€0.2 billion), the United States (-€0.9 billion) and Switzerland (-€1.0 billion), the report added.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
