Euro area trade surplus at widest on record in September

The single currency bloc's trade surplus in goods with the rest of the world jumped in September to its highest level on record as import demand fell off.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the total trade surplus increased from €21.0bn in August to €25.0bn for September, according to Eurostat.

September also marked the first time in 12 months that annual export growth, of 8.8% in this case, was greater than that of imports, at 8.0%.

Exports rose by 1.1% month-on-month to reach €185.3bn while imports declined by 1.2% to €160.2bn.

The improvement was mimicked at the wider European Union level, with the the trade surprlus rising from €0.8bn to €3.1bn.

However, Britain's trade balance with countries from outside the EU worsened, from -€8.3bn to -€10.4bn, for one of the worst performances within the bloc, outside of the Netherlands.

According to Capital Economics, September's wider trade surplus chimed with other indicators pointing to a positive contribution from so-called 'net trade' to the area's rate of GDP growth in the third quarter.

Furthermore, despite the strengthening in the value of the euro, the outlook for Eurozone exports was "bright".

But the consultancy added, "that said, fairly strong growth in domestic demand will keep imports rising reasonably quickly. So we think that the direct impact of net exports on GDP growth next year will be fairly small."