The euro-zone trade balance with the rest of the world in February 2006 registered a 3.1 billion- euro deficit, according to a first estimate of Eurostat, the statistical service of the European Union (EU), on Tuesday.

The trade balance was a 3.4 billion-euro surplus in February 2005.

In February 2006 compared with January 2006, exports, seasonally adjusted, fell by 0.6 percent while imports rose by 1.4 percent.

The first estimate for February 2006 extra-EU25 trade was a 15. 0 billion-euro deficit, compared with a deficit of 7.0 billion euros in February 2005.

In February 2006 compared with January 2006, EU25 exports, seasonally adjusted, remained stable while imports increased by 1. 2 percent.

For the whole EU, the energy deficit grew strongly, while the surplus in the chemicals sector rose. The surplus for machinery and vehicles remained stable.

Concerning the total trade of member states, the largest surplus was observed in Germany, followed by Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden. Britain registered the largest deficit, followed by Spain, France and Italy.

Source: Xinhua