The eurozone's trade surplus grew more than expected in July as exports contracted much less than imports year-on-year and rose from the previous month while imports fell, Eurostat data showed on Thursday. The seasonally unadjusted trade surplus in the 16-country area totalled 12.6 billion euros ($18.6 billion), compared with a 3.5 billion euro deficit a year before as exports fell 19 percent year-on-year and imports plunged 30 percent.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected a trade surplus of 5.2 billion euros. Eurostat revised up the June surplus to 5.4 billion euros from 4.6 billion. The European Union's statistics office said that adjusted for seasonal factors, the trade balance was 6.8 billion euros, up from 2.3 billion in June and 1.5 billion in May.
Seasonally adjusted exports grew by 4.1 percent in July against June, the second consecutive month of gains after June's 0.9 percent increase over May - a sign of improvement in external demand for eurozone goods. Seasonally adjusted imports, however, fell 0.3 percent against June after a 0.2 percent rise in June against May, pointing to continued weakness in domestic demand.