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Extra-EU Trade Declines In March Due To Pandemic: Eurostat

By Dayeeta Das
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Extra-EU Trade Declines In March Due To Pandemic: Eurostat

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.

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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

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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.

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