BRUSSELS, BELGIUM / EuroWire / — The European Union recorded €627.8 billion in goods imports from non EU countries and €640.5 billion in goods exports in the first quarter of 2026, leaving a €12.7 billion trade surplus as external commerce weakened from a year earlier. Eurostat said imports rose 1.7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2025, while exports slipped 0.1 percent, based on seasonally adjusted data covering trade between the EU and the rest of the world.
Compared with the first quarter of 2025, both sides of the trade ledger declined. EU imports were down 3.3 percent year on year, while exports fell 8.8 percent, showing a broader reduction in goods flows with major markets. The quarterly surplus was also lower than the €23.6 billion recorded in the final quarter of 2025, when exports exceeded imports by a wider margin.
China was the EU’s largest source of goods imports in the first quarter, supplying €145.3 billion, or 23.1 percent of all imports from outside the bloc. The United States ranked second with €85.9 billion, equal to 13.7 percent, followed by the United Kingdom at €39.5 billion, Switzerland at €36.7 billion and Türkiye at €24.6 billion. Imports declined year on year from Türkiye, the United States and the United Kingdom.
China leads import suppliers
The United States remained the EU’s largest export destination in the quarter, receiving €119.4 billion in goods, or 18.6 percent of total exports to non EU markets. The United Kingdom followed with €88.7 billion, while Switzerland accounted for €57.2 billion, China for €47.6 billion and Türkiye for €27.1 billion. Those five markets together represented a substantial share of the EU’s external goods export activity.
Exports to the United States posted the steepest annual decline among the main listed partners, falling 30.4 percent from the first quarter of 2025. EU exports to Türkiye decreased 8.2 percent, and exports to China fell 7.9 percent. The data showed the reduction in outbound trade was concentrated across several major destinations rather than limited to a single market, while the United States remained the largest buyer of EU goods by value.
Surplus narrows from previous quarter
Separate product group data showed the EU’s lower trade surplus was linked to a smaller surplus in machinery and vehicles and a wider deficit in energy products. The machinery and vehicles surplus fell to €27.8 billion in the first quarter from €39.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025. The energy deficit widened to €72.2 billion from €64.0 billion over the same period, weighing on the overall goods balance.
Other categories partly offset the decline in the headline surplus. The deficit in other manufactured goods narrowed to €5.0 billion from €10.9 billion in the previous quarter, while the surplus for other goods rose to €11.5 billion from €7.2 billion. Eurostat data also showed exports contracted for a fourth consecutive quarter, while imports increased after three straight quarters of decline, keeping the EU in surplus but at a reduced level.