The trade surplus in Belgium narrowed sharply to EUR 470.8 million in January of 2019 from EUR 1,256.5 million in the corresponding month of the previous year. Exports fell 7.3 percent from a year earlier to EUR 30,953.9 million, dragged down by lower sales to EU countries (-10.3 percent to EUR 22,058.2 million) while those to non-EU countries edged up 0.9 percent to EUR 8,895.7 million. Meanwhile, imports decreased at a softer 5.2 percent to EUR 30,483.1 million, as purchases from both non-EU countries (-6.8 percent to EUR 11,394.4 million) and EU countries (-4.1 percent to EUR 19,088.7 million) dropped. Balance of Trade in Belgium averaged 1069.21 EUR Million from 1993 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 2896.60 EUR Million in September of 2013 and a record low of -1026.60 EUR Million in August of 2008.
Balance of Trade in Belgium is expected to be 2400.00 EUR Million by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Balance of Trade in Belgium to stand at 980.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Belgium Balance of Trade is projected to trend around 1090.00 EUR Million in 2020, according to our econometric models.