June trade surplus statistics for the 18-member euro club show a significant rise compared to last year. Last June, the eurozone´s trade surplus reached €15.7 billion, while this year the respective number grew to €16.8 billion. In May, with €15.4 billion trade surplus, the import and export levels stayed largely unchanged from their last year´s levels. In June, though, both exports and imports rose, by 3% and 2% respectively, seasonally unadjusted. Seasonally adjusted data show a slight increase in imports and a slight drop in exports, however.

All the above-mentioned data was collected before the economic sanctions against Russia and Russian counter-sanctions were adopted. Russia is eurozone´s fourth largest business partner. In the previous quarters, it has been mainly exports that helped the recovery of eurozone´s economy and already a number of politicians criticize the adopted sanctions as they can endanger the economic growth. The growth slowed and stopped in the second quarter even without Russian sanctions. With the sanctions, many fear the effect could be even more dramatic. Exports to Russia decreased by 14% since January.

The United Kingdom, the United States and China remain eurozone´s key business partners. Among eurozone top economies, exports rose in Germany and Italy and imports grew in Germany and Spain in the first five months of 2014.

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