Official figures show that the euro zone fell back into a global trade deficit in August following a surplus in July.
EU statistics agency Eurostat said the trade deficit plunged to €4.3 billion in August following a surplus of €6.2 billion the previous month.
Exports rose by 1% in August after a drop of 0.6% in July. Imports grew by 1.8% in August.
The global trade deficit of the wider, 27-nation EU, which includes Britain and industrial power Poland, widened to €17.3 billion in August after a shortfall of €6.2 billion in July.
In the period between January and July, European export champion Germany posted a surplus of €87.7 billion, the biggest in the union. Britain posted the biggest deficit of €63.6 billion.
