BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 28. The 2022 peak in energy prices is reflected in the exponential increase of the historically negative EU energy balance, Miriam Garcia, European Commission spokesperson, told Trend.
“As reported by Eurostat, data for 2022 show that the negative energy balance of € 653.6 billion was not offset by the surpluses in non-energy goods (€ 222.4 billion) resulting in an overall goods trade balance deficit,” she said.
Garcia recalled that in 2021, the negative € 285.8 billion energy balance was offset by the surpluses in non-energy goods (€ 340.9 billion) and the EU posted a trade in goods surplus of € 55 billion.
The EU is the world's largest trading bloc. The EU is the world’s largest trader of manufactured goods and services. It ranks first in both inbound and outbound international investments. The EU is the top trading partner for 80 countries. By comparison, the US is the top trading partner for a little over 20 countries. It is the most open to developing countries. Fuels excluded, the EU imports more from developing countries than the USA, Canada, Japan and China put together.
The EU benefits from being one of the most open economies in the world and remains committed to free trade. The average applied tariff for goods imported into the EU is very low. More than 70 percent of imports enter the EU at zero or reduced tariffs. The EU’s services markets are highly open and we have arguably the most open investment regime in the world.
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