Exports and imports fall across all major European economies, according to OECD data
The global trade slowdown is hitting the EU the hardest, according to new OECD data, as uncertainty over the UK’s exit from the trading bloc and Germany’s industrial downturn add to disruption caused by US-China trade tensions.
Exports from the EU contracted 1.8 per cent in the third quarter compared with the previous three-month period, while imports fell 0.4 per cent, according to figures released on Thursday by the Paris-based organisation.
Exports and imports declined across all major EU economies, with falls of 3.6 per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively in France, and of 0.4 per cent and 1.8 per cent in Germany. In Italy trade dropped for the sixth straight quarter: exports decreased 1.2 per cent and imports slipped 1 per cent.
