BRUSSELS (AFP) – The eurozone achieved a trade surplus of 3.7 billion euros (6.5 billion dollars) with the rest of the world in September, official data showed on Tuesday.

In more good news, the EU's Eurostat agency cut an earlier estimate for August's deficit way back from 4.0 billion euros to 2.3 billion euros.
The 16 countries using the single euro currency had enjoyed a record 12.3-billion-euro surplus in July on strong exports and flat imports, and August's deficit had ended a five-month run of trade surpluses.
In September both eurozone exports and imports rose, but with the rise in outward trade at 5.5 percent while imports rose by just 1.1 percent.
For the 27-nation EU as a whole, the official initial estimate put the external trade deficit at 11.2 billion euros, down from 12 billion euros in August.
The eurozone figures indicate that “eurozone exporters are increasingly benefiting from the recent pick up in global economic activity and trade following the collapse in late-2008/early-2009,” said Howard Archer, chief analyst at London-based IHS Global Insight.
“The recent improving trend in the eurozone's net trade performance reinforces belief that it was a significant factor in the region's return to growth in the third quarter, and September's trade data boosts hopes that it can contribute further in the fourth quarter,” he added.
However the analyst sounded a note of caution, saying that eurozone exporters “will hardly be helped” by the euro trading up around 1.50 dollars.
Europe shook off recession last Friday but analysts warn that unemployment would remain a major problem as countries recover from the deepest downturn since World War II.
The 16 nations that use the euro and the wider 27-nation European Union, home to half a billion people, posted expansion in the third quarter -- 0.4 percent in the eurozone area and 0.2 percent for the whole EU.
So far this year European Union trade flows with all of its major partners have fallen. The largest decreases were recorded for exports to Russia, 40 percent down between January and August compared to the same period last year.
Trade with the US over the same period was down 20 percent and with Japan down by 31 percent, giving an idea of the scale of the downturn.