The first estimate for the euro area (EA12) trade balance with the rest of the world in December 2006 gave a 2.5 bn euro surplus compared with -1.1 bn in December 2005. The November 2006 balance was +5.1 bn, compared with -2.1 bn in November 2005. In December 2006 compared with November 2006, exports, seasonally adjusted, rose by 3.3% and imports by 6.7%.
The first estimate for December 2006 extra-EU25 trade was a deficit of 7.3 bn euro, compared with -9.6 bn in December 2005. In November 2006, the balance was -10.5 bn, compared with -14.8 bn in November 2005. In December 2006 compared with November 2006, exports, seasonally adjusted, rose by 2.3% and imports by 2.7%.
During 2006, euro area trade recorded a deficit of 8.2 bn euro, compared to a surplus of 16.2 bn in 2005. The EU25 recorded a deficit of 172.6 bn in 2006, compared with -111.8 bn in 2005.
These data are released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.

EU25 January-November 2006 detailed results
The energy deficit grew strongly (-259.7 bn euro in January-November 2006 compared with -202.3 bn in January-November 2005), while the surpluses rose in the chemicals sector (+72.4 bn compared with +64.9 bn) and for machinery and vehicles (+103.4 bn compared with +91.2 bn).
EU25 trade flows with its major partners grew. The most notable increases were for exports to Russia (+27% in January-November 2006 compared with January-November 2005), China (+24%), Norway and India (both +14%), and for imports from Russia (+27%), China and Norway (both +21%), and India (+19%).
The EU25 trade surplus with the USA increased (+84.6 bn euro in January-November 2006 compared with +80.9 bn in January-November 2005), but decreased with Switzerland (+14.0 bn compared with +15.3 bn). The EU25 trade deficit grew with China (-117.1 bn compared with -97.4 bn), Russia (-61.2 bn compared with -48.0 bn), Norway (-38.0 bn compared with -29.4 bn), Japan (-28.8 bn compared with -27.4 bn) and South Korea (-14.4 bn compared to -12.2 bn).
Concerning the total trade of Member States, the largest surplus was observed in Germany (+151.0 bn euro in January-November 2006), followed by the Netherlands (+33.0 bn), Ireland (+29.9 bn) and Sweden (+15.2 bn). The United Kingdom (-116.6 bn) registered the largest deficit, followed by Spain (-81.4 bn), France (-31.9 bn), Greece (-31.2 bn) and Italy (-20.5 bn).