Euro area International Trade in Goods Surplus €246 billion

Figures from Eurostat have revealed that euro area exports rose to the rest of the world to €2 040.2 billion last year, a rise of 5% compared with 2014.

As imports reached a total of €1 794.2 billion in 2015, an increase of 2% compared to the previous year, the euro area reached a surplus of €246 billion. This surpasses the excess of €184.3 billion that was achieved n 2014.

The first estimate from Eurostat also revealed that exports of goods to the rest of the world in December 2015 was €167.5 billion, an increase of 3% compared with December 2014, where the total reached €162.1 billion.

This resulted in a euro area surplus of €24.3 billion surplus in trade in goods with worldwide trade partners.

Intra euro area trade also rose according to Eurostat, with €130.3 billion of business being conducted in December 2015, this was a rise of 2% from the same month in 2014.

The estimate for the whole of the European Union (EU) for December 2015 was €156.0 billion, a year on year surge of 7%.

Imports from the rest of the world stood at €135.5 billion, a slender rise of 1% compared with December 2014, where the €134.4 billion was brought in.

The surplus for the EU for December climbed up to a €20.5 billion surplus globally.

Across the 28 member states intra trade rose to €234.7 billion, a higher rise compared to the euro area of 3%.

Employees in Manufacturing Sector Rises in Germany

There was also positive news for the German economy, as official figures disclosed that at the end of December, there was just under 5.4 million people employed in the manufacturing sector.

In a year on year comparison, the figure represents a rise of 55,000 people being employed in manufacturing industries, an increase of 1%.

Earnings in this area of the economy grew at a significant rate of 3.8% in December compared to the same month in 2014,this amounted to a total of €21.7 billion.

The number of hours worked also increased in December by 2.7%, reaching a total of 618 million hours.

Euro Begins Week by Sliding Against the US Dollar

The euro has fallen to buying $1.12 this morning GMT, a decline from the recent peak of buying over $1.13.

After the latest GDP results for the euro area was announced, which revealed that growth on the euro area had remained stable for the fourth quarter last year at 0.3%, the euro has weakened against the greenback.

The latest growth figure is the slowest amount of economic activity reported for the euro area since the second quarter in 2014.

Against the UK pound, the euro has also been reduced to purchasing £0.77 today, falling from £0.774 in the early hours GMT.

Although the current trend from the GDP announcement might alleviate some fears that the appreciation the euro, will result in the European Central Banks’ quantitative easing programme being less effective.