The 15 countries in the euro zone saw their trade gap with the rest of the world widen more than expected in August, according to official EU data today.
The euro zone chalked up a trade deficit of €9.3 billion in August, up from a revised shortfall of €5.3 billion in July, the European Union's Eurostat data agency said.
The figure, which compared with a trade surplus of €1.5 billion in August 2007, was higher than economists' expectations for a deficit of €5.5 billion.
Imports into the euro zone grew 7% in August over one year to €126.5 billion while exports fell 2% to €117.2 billion.
Meanwhile, the 27-nation EU recorded a trade deficit of €27.2 billion with the rest the world in August, up from a revised deficit of €13.3 billion in July and from a shortfall of €16.1 billion in August 2007.
