The EU’s trade surplus with the rest of the world increased by nearly 60% during March after exports to the US alone surged to €71.4bn, new data from Eurostat shows.
Last month, the EU exported goods valued at €254.8bn — up from €221.2bn in March 2024 — to countries around the world and imported €219.5bn, up from €198.9bn. This resulted in a trade surplus of €35.3bn, compared to €22.3bn last year.
The value of exports to the US alone increased by 59.5% compared to last year and accounted for 28% of all exports. At the same time, imports from the US into the bloc only grew by 9.4% to €30.7bn.
The next biggest export market for the EU during March was Britain, accounting for €30.8bn, followed by Switzerland at €26.3bn.
The largest import market for the EU last month was China, with €48.6bn worth of goods brought in.
Eurostat said the EU’s trade surplus was primarily driven by the positive balance of the chemicals and related products group, which experienced a remarkable year-over-year rise of €20bn.
During this period, the energy sector, while maintaining a negative balance, showed a slight improvement of €200m compared to the same month of the previous year. Meanwhile, other manufactured goods, food and drink, and raw materials experienced declines in their balance of €4.4bn, €2.1bn, and €0.7bn, respectively.
During the first three months of the year, the EU recorded a trade surplus of €52.1bn, compared with €50.9bn in January-March 2024.