BRUSSELS, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU)'s international trade in goods in August remained under the pre-pandemic levels, with a decline of exports and imports by 14 percent and 15.6 percent respectively compared to August 2019, Eurostat said on Friday.
From January to August, the EU's exports of goods fell to 1,229.9 billion euros, down by 12.4 percent year-on-year, and imports fell to 1,118.8 billion euros, a decrease of 13.4 percent.
According to the EU's statistical office, China was the bloc's biggest trading partner in the first eight months, with an increase of imports by 4.4 percent plus a slight drop in exports -- by 1.1 percent.
China overtook the United States to become the top partner for the EU in July, when the European trade with the U.S. recorded a significant drop in both imports and exports.
In August, the exports of goods decreased year on year for all EU member states except Slovenia and Slovakia. The largest decrease, at minus 48.7 percent, was registered in Malta, according to Eurostat. (1 euro = 1.17 U.S. dollars) Enditem
