EU: annual trade balance of goods 2002-2023

The European Union has moved from a trade deficit for goods during the period from 2004 until the end of the Great Recession (2008-2010), to a substantial trade surplus over the later 2010s and early 2020s. The EU had been running a trade deficit as consumption was high during the economic boom which led up to the recession and Eurozone crisis (2010-2012), while the Euro had been appreciating against other currencies during this time, making exports less attractive for trading partners and imports less expensive in Eurozone countries.

With the dampening of global demand during the recession, Europe's deficit contracted, with the dramatic reduction in imports outweighing the reduction in exports to the rest of the world. Later, during the 2010s, the EU began to run a trade surplus due to the suppressed demand for imports in the EU via economic policies which favored austerity and lower consumption, a depreciating Euro after 2014 which made EU exports cheaper for trading partners, and structural policies of EU member states, such as Germany, who have prioritized the competitiveness of their export sectors.