Euro area goods surplus declines in April
The euro area's surplus in its trade on goods with the rest of the world narrowed in April on the back of a sharp rise in imports.
According to Eurostat, the surplus slipped from €19.8bn for March to €18.1bn in April, with exports higher by 0.4% month-on-month to €187.0bn and imports up by 1.3% at €168.8bn.
Economists had forecast a surplus of €20.0bn, versus a preliminary reading of €21.2bn for March.
Germany accounted for the bulk of the decline, as its goods imports rose by 4.1% on the month to €30.3bn, cutting it surplus from €15.7bn for March to €14.4bn in April.
Its exports on the other hand slipped 0.3% month-on-month to €44.7bn.
France's trade surplus in goods also narrowed, from €3.2bn to €2.5bn.
Over the first four months of 2018, the European Union's trade surplus in goods versus the US widened from €38.8bn to €45.4bn, even as the deficit with China widened from -€55.9bn to -€56.9bn.
So too did its shortfall on trade with the Russian Federation, with the bilateral goods deficit increasing from -€55.9bn to -€56.9bn.