The euro zone recorded a trade surplus of 4.6 billion euros in June, compared with 0.0 billion in the same period last year, the first European Union (EU) official estimates showed on August 17.
According to the EU statistics agency Eurostat, the seasonally adjusted exports of the 16-member euro zone fell by 0.1 percent in June over the previous month, while imports remained stable.
In May, trade surplus of the euro zone stood at 2.1 billion euros, compared with a trade deficit of 3.8 billion euros in May 2008.
As for the 27-member EU, the first estimate of the trade balance in June was minus 4.3 billion euros, compared with minus 19.3 billion in the same period last year.
In June, the seasonally adjusted exports of the 27 countries dropped by 0.3 percent and imports down by 1.4 percent on a monthly basis, according to the Eurostat.
The agency said in January-May 2009, the EU's trade flows with all of its major partners fell. The largest decrease was recorded for exports to Russia, which was down 39 percent compared with the same period last year.
Among all EU member states, the largest trade surplus during the first five months of 2009 was observed in Germany, which was 46.3 billion euros, while the United Kingdom registered the largest deficit at 38.0 billion euros.
