According to the data published by Eurostat and the National Institute of Statistics, in 2010, EU 27 external trade in services recovered compared with 2009 to reach levels equal or above those of 2008.

EU 27 exports of services to the rest of the word rose by 11%, from EUR 484 billion in 2009 to EUR 539 billion in 2010, and EU 27 imports increased by 9%, from EUR 416 billion to EUR 454 billion. As a result, EU 27 trade in services recorded a higher surplus of EUR 85 billion in 2010 as compared with EUR 67 billion in 2009 and EUR 71 billion in 2008.

The surplus in 2010 was mainly due to surpluses in other business services, which includes miscellaneous business, professional & technical services (EUR 40 billion in 2010 as compared with EUR 33 billion in 2009), financial services (EUR 27 billion as compared with EUR 26 billion), computer & information services (EUR 23 billion compared with EUR 19 billion) and transportation (EUR 20 billion in both 2010 and 2009).

In 2010, the EU 27 recorded relatively stable or slightly higher surpluses in trade in services compared with 2009 with all its main partners. The highest surpluses were observed with the EFTA countries3 (EUR 27 billion), Russia (EUR 9 billion), China (EUR 6 billion), Japan (EUR 5 billion), Brazil and Canada (both EUR 4 billion). Among the main partners, the only deficit was recorded with the USA (EUR 4 billion).