China was the main trade partner of the European Union (EU) in 2020, surpassing the United States, according to data released on Monday (15) by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency.
Last year, the EU’s trade flows with China (the sum of exports and imports) totaled 586 billion euros, compared with 555 billion with the United States. In 2019, bilateral trade with China stood at 561 billion euros, compared to 617 billion euros with the United States.
According to Eurostat, the positions were inverted due to an increase in imports (+ 5.6%) and exports (+ 2.2%) in China. At the same time, trade with the United States registered a significant decline in both imports (-13.2%) and exports (-8.2%).
In third place was the United Kingdom with EUR 444.7 billion.
Consolidated for 2020, the EU’s trade deficit with China was 181 billion euros, compared to 164.7 billion euros in 2019. The relatively steady trade deficit, with the USA, increased from 151.8 billion in 2019 to 150.9 billion last year.
Of the total balance of 2020, 27 countries in the European Union recorded a trade surplus of 217 billion compared to the rest of the world, against 191.5 billion in 2019.
