The EU foreign trade balance posted a €217.3 billion surplus in 2020, compared to last year, the bloc's statistical office reported on Monday.
According to Eurostat, the figure was up from €191.5 billion in January-December 2019.
Extra-EU exports of goods decreased by 9.4% to €1.9 trillion, while imports were €1.7 trillion, down 11.6%, in 2020.
"Intra-EU trade fell to €2.8 trillion in January-December 2020, down 7.5% compared with January-December 2019," the same source noted.
The degree to which the year-on-year development of exports and imports was affected depended however on the type of products, Eurostat stressed.
Energy posted by far the largest drop, followed by machinery and vehicles and other manufactured products, it said, adding food and drink, raw materials and chemicals were the only product groups with levels close to those observed in 2019.
Source: MAP
