By Aysu Bicer
ANKARA (AA) – The EU's foreign trade balance saw a €42.7 billion (nearly $46.1 billion) surplus in January-March, the union's statistical authority said on Friday.
The 27-member bloc's exports of goods totaled €504.3 billion, posting a 3.2% decrease year-on-year, Eurostat data showed.
Its imports from the rest of the world amounted to €461.6 billion, falling 5.3% during the same period.
The intra-EU trade also fell to €760.1 billion, marking a 2.4% decrease compared with the same period last year.
– EU’s 6th largest trading partner
The US was the top market for EU exporters with €97.6 billion.
The EU's other major export markets were the UK, China, Switzerland, Russia, and Turkey.
On the import side, China was the main source, with a total of €84.1 billion worth imports made from the country.
It was followed by the US, the UK, Russia, Switzerland, and Turkey.
In January- March, the bloc's trade balance saw the highest deficit with China — €39.1 billion — and the biggest surplus with the US — €37.7 billion.
Turkey has been the sixth largest trading partner of the EU in the first three months of this year, with a trade volume of €35 billion.
EU exports to Turkey totaled €18 billion, while imports from the country were €17 billion during the same period.
