Euro zone Jan unadjusted trade balance turns positive

BRUSSELS: The euro zone's trade surplus with the rest of the world turned positive in January from negative a year earlier as exports grew faster than imports, data showed on Monday.

The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said the unadjusted trade surplus of the 19 countries sharing the euro with the rest of the world was 3.3 billion euros ($4.05 billion) in January, compared with -1.4 billion euros in January 2017, as exports rose 9.1 percent and imports were up 6.3 percent.

The trade balance tends to be low in winter as Europe imports more to cover its energy needs.

Adjusted for seasonal swings, the trade surplus in January was 19.9 billion euros, down from 23.2 billion euros in December, after exports fell 0.7 percent month-on-month and imports increased by 1.1 percent.