(09 June 2015) – On the occasion of the second European Union – Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) summit, on 10 and 11 June in Brussels, Eurostat issues data on trade in goods between the CELAC members and the EU. Total trade amounts to more than €200 billion.
Over the last ten years, the share of CELAC in extra-EU imports remained almost stable at 5.9%, while its share in exports grew from 5.4% in 2004 to 6.5% in 2014. Together, CELAC countries would have been in 2014 the EU’s fifth most important trading partner, behind the United States, China, Russia and Switzerland.
Among the EU Member States, Germany (€30.4 bn or 28% of EU exports of goods to CELAC) was by far the largest exporter to CELAC in 2014, followed by Spain (€14.2 bn or 13%), Italy (€13.4 bn or 12%), France (€11.8 bn or 11%) and the Netherlands (€9.5 bn or 9%).
Among the CELAC countries, Brazil (33% of total EU exports to CELAC and 32% of total EU imports from CELAC) and Mexico (26% and 18%) were by far the two main trading partners of the EU in 2014, representing also the two countries with whom the EU recorded the highest surpluses in 2014.