By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 7 April 2014:
The European Union ‘s (EU) statistics office, Eurostat, revealed that Libya’s exports to the 28 EU . . .[restrict]member states (EU28) were down whilst its imports increased in 2013, compared to 2012.
This decrease of Libyan exports to the EU28 is attributed to the embargo of Libya’s oil export terminal by the militant and alleged federalist militias in the eastern oil terminal region headed by Ibrahim Jadran.
Eurostat reports that Libya was the fourth largest African exporter to the EU with exports valued at € 23 bn or 14 percent of all African exports to the EU in 2013. In 2012 this was valued at € 32.8 bn.
On the other hand, Libya’s imports from the EU increased in 2013 to € 7.9 bn in comparison to € 6.37 bn in 2012.
The report goes on to explain that EU28 international trade in goods with 52 Africa states has grown in the last decade. EU28 exports to Africa increased steadily from 2002 to 2008, fell in 2009, and then recovered in the following years to reach a peak of €153 billion in 2013, it revealed.
Imports followed a similar trend, but peaked at €187 bn in 2012, and then fell to €168 bn in 2013. The EU28 deficit in trade with Africa, which reached a peak of € 41 bn in 2008, amounted to €15 bn in 2013, the Eurostat report explains.
Among the EU28 Member States, the largest exporters to Africa in 2013 were:
1-France (€28 bn euro or 18% of EU28 exports),
2-Germany (€22 bn or 14%),
3-Italy (€20 bn or 13%) and
4-Spain (€16 bn or 11%)
The largest EU importers from Africa in 2013 were:
1-Spain (€28 bn or 17% of EU28 imports),
2-Italy (€27 bn or 16%),
3-France (€26 bn or 16%),
4-United Kingdom (€22 bn or 13%)
5-Germany (€21 bn or 12%)
The largest deficits in 2013 by EU states with Africa were registered by:
1-Spain (-€12 bn),
2-United Kingdom (-€10 bn)
3-Italy (-€7 bn),
The largest surpluses in 2013 by EU states with Africa were registered by:
1-Belgium3 (+€5 bn),
2-France, Romania and Sweden (all +€2 bn).
Meanwhile, among the African countries, South Africa (€24 bn or 16% of EU28 exports to Africa) was the leading destination for EU28 exports in 2013, followed by Algeria (€22 bn or 15%), Morocco (€17 bn or 11%), Egypt (€15 bn or 10%), Nigeria (€12 bn or 8%) and Tunisia (€11 bn or 7%).
The leading source of EU28 imports from Africa was:
1-Algeria (€32 bn or 19% of EU28 imports from Africa)
2-Nigeria €29 bn or 17%)
3-Libya (€23 bn or 14%),
4-South Africa (€16 bn or 9%)
5-Morocco (€10 bn or 6%).
The largest EU28 deficits in trade in 2013 were recorded with:
1-Nigeria (-€17 bn)
2-Libya (-€15 bn)
3-Algeria (-€9 bn)
4-Equatorial Guinea and Angola (both -€3 bn)
The highest surpluses were with:
1-South Africa (+€9 bn)
2-Morocco and Egypt (both +€7 bn)
3-Togo and Senegal (both +€3 bn)
Manufactured goods accounted for 70% of EU28 exports to Africa in 2013, while energy, including oil and gas, made up 64% of EU28 imports.
For more information on EU-Africa statistics see http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat [/restrict]
