Eurozone exports rise as currency falls

The European union (EU) statistics agency says exports from the 16 nations that use the euro rose 18 per cent in April from a year earlier, helped by the euro's sharp fall against the US dollar and resurgent global trade.

Tuesday figures from Eurostat show that the eurozone sold some €121.6 billion worth of goods in April, outweighing imports and allowing it to post a trade surplus of €1.8 billion.

Euro exports to China soared 48 per cent but sales to the zone's two biggest export markets, Britain and the United States were also up.

The 27-nation European Union as a whole saw exports grow 20 per cent in April but it imported far more - leading to a trade deficit of €10.2 billion.

- AP