Euro area reports biggest trade deficit in 13 years

The euro area reported a 9.7 billion-euro ($11 billion) trade deficit in December, according to Eurostat data published Tuesday. The biggest shortfall since 2008 was primarily driven by energy imports. Still, despite such negative readings in the final two months of 2021, the region showed a trade surplus for the year as a whole, albeit down by more than 100 billion euros at 128.4 billion euros.