By EuAsiaNews,
Brussels: After having more than doubled in value between 2000 and 2008, EU trade in goods with India fell in 2009.
EU exports decreased from 31.6 billion euro in 2008 to 27.6 bn in 2009 and imports from India from 29.5 bn to 25.3 bn.
These figures were released here by the EU’s statistical office Eurostat on the occasion of the 11th EU-India summit, which will take place in Brussels on Friday.
The EU surplus in trade with India increased from 0.8 bn in 2000 to 2.3 bn in 2009.
However, the first nine months of 2010 showed renewed growth in EU trade with India, with exports increasing from 19.7 bn euro in the first nine months of 2009 to 25.1 bn in the same period of 2010, and imports from 19.1 bn to 24.3 bn.
The EU trade surplus with India remained nearly stable at 0.7 bn in the first nine months of 2010.
In recent years, the share of India in EU trade has risen, reaching 2.6% of EU exports and 2.2% of EU imports in the first nine months of 2010. India is the EU’s 9th most important trading partner.
Among the 27 EU countries, Germany (6.6 bn euro or 26% of EU exports) was the largest exporter to India in the first nine months of 2010, followed by Belgium (5.1 bn or 20%), the United Kingdom (3.2 bn or 13%), Italy and France (both 2.3 bn or 9%).
The United Kingdom (4.4 bn or 18% of EU imports) was the largest importer of Indian goods, followed by Germany (4.0 bn or 16%), Italy and the Netherlands1 (both 2.8 bn or 11%), Belgium and France (both 2.7 bn or 11%).
Machinery and vehicles and other manufactured goods represented almost 80% of EU exports to India in the first nine months of 2010, while other manufactured goods accounted for almost 50% of imports.
At the detailed level, the main EU exports to India included unworked diamonds and aircraft, while the main imports included oil products and worked diamonds, noted Eurostat.