Among the EU27 Member States, Germany (14.5 bn euro, or 29% of the total) was by far the largest exporter to ASEAN in 2006, followed by France (6.8 bn or 14%) and the United Kingom (6.5 bn or 13%). The Netherlands (16.2 bn or 20%) was the largest importer, followed by the United Kingdom (15.3 bn or 19%) and Germany (14.8 bn or 19%).
Only six Member States recorded small surpluses in trade with ASEAN in 2006, while the largest deficits were registered by the Netherlands (-12.2 bn), the United Kingdom (-8.8 bn) and Spain (-3.1 bn).
Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand are main ASEAN trade partners of the EU
Among the ASEAN members, Singapore (19.9 bn euro, or 40% of the total) was the leading destination for EU27 exports in 2006, followed by Malaysia (10.3 bn or 21%) and Thailand (7.3 bn or 15%). The leading source of EU27 imports from ASEAN was Singapore (19.3 bn or 25%), again followed by Malaysia (17.9 bn or 23%) and Thailand (14.7 bn or 19%). Except for small surpluses with Singapore and Brunei, the EU27 recorded deficits with all other ASEAN partners, the highest being registered with Malaysia (-7.6 bn), Thailand (-7.4 bn) and Indonesia (-7.2 bn).
Machinery and vehicles account for half of EU27 trade with ASEAN
EU27 trade with ASEAN is dominated by manufactured goods, which accounted for around 85% of both imports and exports in 2006. As a result, the deficit of 22 bn registered for manufactured goods makes up three quarters of the EU27 deficit with ASEAN.
More than half of EU27 exports to ASEAN in 2006 were machinery and vehicles, and a further fifth were other manufactured articles. These same two groups of products accounted for a half and a quarter of imports respectively. At the detailed level, the main EU27 exports to ASEAN were electronic circuits, aircraft and engines and medicine, while the main imports were computer parts (including monitors and printers), mobile phones and electronic circuits.
