BRUSSELS, July 14 (Xinhua) -- The eurozone trade in goods surplus in May increased as growth in exports surpassed the rise in imports, the European Union statistics office Eurostat said on Friday.
The trade in goods surplus inched up to a seasonally adjusted 19.7 billion euros (22.48 billion U.S. dollars) in May from 18.6 billion euros in April, with exports up by 2.1 percent from April and imports by 1.6 percent.
However, the trade surplus on a yearly base fell to 21.4 billion euros from 23.4 billion euros last year.
From January to May, the eurozone exports of goods increased by 8.5 percent compared with the same period last year, imports up by 12.3 percent.
As a result, the eurozone recorded a surplus of 82.9 billion euros, decreasing from 101.5 billion euros in January-May of last year. (1 euro = 1.14 U.S. dollars)
