The euro zone's trade surplus was smaller than expected in July, unadjusted data showed today.
The European Union's statistics office said the non-seasonally adjusted trade surplus in July for the 13 countries using the euro came to €4.6 billion ($6.4 billion), against economists' expectations of €6.8 billion.
But exports continued to grow more quickly than imports. Exports increased by 15 per cent year-on-year in July, while imports rose 12 per cent, Eurostat said. That follows a 9 per cent rise in exports in June and a 4 per cent increase in imports.
But on a seasonally adjusted basis, the trade balance swung to a €0.6 billion deficit in July from a €4.4 billion surplus in June as exports fell 0.5 per cent against the previous month and imports rose 3.6 per cent.
The euro rose strongly against the dollar in July, reaching what were then all-time highs around $1.384. It has since gained even more as the prospect of an interest rate cut in the United States and possible rate rises from the European Central Bank make the single currency attractive to investors.
Eurostat unadjusted data showed that in the first six months of the year, the euro zone's trade deficit with Japan remained almost unchanged at around €12 billion and fell to €15.8 billion from €25.7 billion with Russia.
But with China, the euro zone's trade gap widened to €50.4 billion in the January-June period from €41.3 billion a year earlier.
The unadjusted data for the first half of the year also showed the value of energy imports fell 13 per cent year-on-year.
The euro zone's June trade surplus was revised slightly lower to €7.6 billion from €7.8 billion.