Eurozone trade surplus increased slightly to a new record in November on a marginal growth in exports, Eurostat reported Thursday.
The trade surplus rose to a seasonally adjusted EUR 20 billion from EUR 19.6 billion in October.
Exports rose by 0.2 percent in November from last month when it fell by 0.1 percent. At the same time, imports remained flat after falling 1.2 percent in October.
On an unadjusted basis, the trade surplus fell to EUR 20 billion in November from EUR 23.6 billion in the previous month. In the same period last year, the surplus totaled EUR 16.5 billion.
On a yearly basis, exports rose 1 percent, while imports decreased 2 percent in November.
The extra-EU28 trade surplus totaled EUR 10.1 billion in November compared to EUR 2.5 billion in the same period of last year.
Looking ahead, Eurozone exporters will be hoping that the boost to their competitiveness coming from the marked retreat in the euro to an 11-year low just under US$1.16 today will increasingly feed through to lift foreign demand for their goods and services, IHS Global Insight's Chief European Economist Howard Archer said.
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