Mubasher: The Euro area’s (EA) trade balance surplus amounted to EUR 19.9 billion ($24.49 billion) in January down from EUR 23.2 billion ($28.55 billion) in December.

Analysts had expected that EA’s surplus to reach EUR 22.6 billion in January.

EA exports increased 9.1% to EUR 178.6 billion in January from EUR 163.7 billion in the same period in the previous year, data released by the Eurostat on Monday showed.

Moreover, the area’s imports from the rest of the world levelled up 6.3% to EUR 3.3 billion in the prior month versus a deficit of EUR 1.4 billion in January 2017.

Intra euro area trade jumped 8.8% year-on-year to EUR 159.8 billion in January.