EuroWire, LUXEMBOURG: The European Union’s surplus in trade in goods with the rest of the world narrowed to 9.1 billion euros in February from 22.9 billion euros a year earlier, a drop of about 60%, as exports fell faster than imports, according to Eurostat. Extra-EU exports declined 9.3% year on year to 204.7 billion euros, while imports slipped 3.5% to 195.7 billion euros. The February figures marked a much smaller external goods surplus than in the same month of 2025.
Compared with January, the EU balance returned to surplus from a 5.6 billion euro deficit, reflecting a rebound in the machinery and vehicles category from the previous month. Even so, the first two months of 2026 showed a much narrower combined surplus of 3.5 billion euros, down from 17.5 billion euros in the same period of 2025. Over January and February, extra-EU exports fell 9.5% to 394.4 billion euros and imports dropped 6.6% to 390.9 billion euros.
Trade with the United States posted the largest year-on-year shift among the EU’s main partners. EU exports to the U.S. fell 26.4% in February to 38.3 billion euros, while imports from the U.S. edged down 3.2% to 27.7 billion euros, leaving a bilateral surplus of 10.6 billion euros compared with 23.4 billion euros a year earlier. Exports to China also fell 16.1% to 14.2 billion euros as imports from China rose 3.4% to 44.5 billion euros.
EU Sector And Partner Details
The product breakdown showed the sharpest change in two of the bloc’s largest surplus categories. The chemicals and related products surplus fell to 14.8 billion euros from 28.7 billion euros in February 2025, while the machinery and vehicles surplus narrowed to 11.5 billion euros from 18.9 billion euros. Energy remained the largest deficit category, although that gap improved to 22.1 billion euros from 27.6 billion euros a year earlier as both energy exports and imports declined.
Among other major partners, EU exports to the United Kingdom were broadly stable at 28.6 billion euros and imports from Britain slipped 1.4% to 13.1 billion euros, leaving a surplus of 15.5 billion euros. Exports to Switzerland fell 9.3% to 18.9 billion euros, while exports to Türkiye dropped 11.2% to 8.9 billion euros. Trade with Norway remained in deficit at 2.4 billion euros, even after imports from Norway declined 9.0% in February.
Euro Area Context
Separate figures for the euro area pointed in the same direction. The 20-country currency bloc recorded an 11.5 billion euro goods surplus in February, down from 23.1 billion euros a year earlier, with exports falling 6.7% to 232.4 billion euros and imports down 2.2% to 220.9 billion euros. Like the wider European Union, the euro area’s improvement from January was led by machinery and vehicles, but its year-on-year balance still narrowed sharply.
Eurostat said the European Union’s February external trade results showed a smaller surplus despite the recovery from January’s deficit, with declines in chemicals and machinery outweighing an improved energy position. The EU statistics office also reported intra-EU trade of 343.8 billion euros in February, up 1.7% from a year earlier, while the first estimates for euro area and EU goods trade were published on April 17.