Eurozone Trade Deficit Widens In August

(RTTNews) - The euro area trade gap widened for the third straight month in August amid a faster rise in imports than exports, data from Eurostat showed on Friday.

The seasonally adjusted trade deficit rose to EUR 47.3 billion in August from EUR 40.5 billion in July.

The trade balance also remained negative for the eleventh successive month in August.

Both exports and imports rose by 3.5 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively, in August from a month ago.

On an unadjusted basis, the trade balance showed a deficit of EUR 50.9 billion compared to a surplus of EUR 2.8 billion in the previous year.

Exports logged a double-digit annual growth of 24.0 percent in August. At the same time, imports grew at a much faster pace of 53.6 percent.

During the January to August period, the trade deficit was EUR 228.8 billion versus a surplus of EUR 124.0 billion in the corresponding period a year ago.

Among main trading partners, there was a sharp expansion of the trade deficit with the Russia and China during the first eight months of this year compared to the same period last year.