EU reports €28 billion trade surplus for final quarter of 2025

The European Union achieved a total trade surplus of €28.4 billion during the final quarter of 2025 as the value of goods exported to non-EU nations continued to outpace imports, according to Eurostat.

This latest performance maintains a consistent positive trade balance for the bloc which was first established in the third quarter of 2023.

The current era of surpluses follows a difficult period of significant trade deficits that were primarily driven by soaring energy costs between late 2021 and mid-2023.

Strong results in the chemicals and related products sector acted as a primary engine for growth, contributing a surplus of €49.3 billion to the collective economy.

The machinery and vehicles category also provided a substantial boost to the European accounts with a surplus reaching €42.3 billion during the three-month period.

Additional support for the positive balance came from the food, drinks and tobacco sector, which recorded a surplus of €10.8 billion.

Other miscellaneous goods rounded out the positive contributors by adding a further €7.1 billion to the overall trade ledger.

Despite these gains, the report highlighted that the energy sector remains a significant drain on the balance of payments, recording a deficit of €62.7 billion.

Other manufactured goods also struggled during the final months of the year, resulting in a reported trade deficit of €11.0 billion.

Furthermore, raw materials continued to weigh on the results with a deficit of €7.5 billion being noted by statisticians.

The data for the fourth quarter of December 31, 2025, revealed that total imports decreased by 1.4 per cent when compared with the results of the previous quarter.

At the same time, the value of total exports fell by 0.8 per cent as global trade volumes showed signs of cooling.

Both the import and export categories have now registered three consecutive quarterly decreases, according to the latest figures released by Eurostat.