16.12.202510:16:55UTC+00Euro Area Trade Surplus Widens in October

In October 2025, the Eurozone experienced a significant increase in its trade surplus, which expanded to €18.4 billion, up from €7.1 billion a year prior, driven by a rise in exports alongside a decrease in imports. Similarly, the trade surplus across the wider European Union escalated to €14.7 billion, compared to €3.1 billion in October 2024. This growth was fueled by a 1.0% increase in EU exports, reaching €258.0 billion, assisted by higher exports of machinery and vehicles (+1.5%), food and drink (+0.9%), and raw materials (+1.8%). Export growth was particularly notable to destinations such as Switzerland (+16.5%), Norway (+6.1%), and Mexico (+8.7%), although shipments to the USA (-14.7%), the UK (-3.0%), and China (-3.3%) saw declines. In contrast, imports into the EU decreased by 3.6% to €239.6 billion, largely due to reduced purchases of chemicals (-4.9%), energy (-24.0%), and food and drink (-1.1%), with machinery and vehicle imports being an exception, rising by 4.2%. Notably, imports from China fell drastically (-34.1%), as did those from India (-3.0%), while imports increased from the USA (+19.5%), the UK (+16.7%), and Switzerland (+2.3%).