EU posts over $17.4B trade deficit in Jan.-Sept.

The European Union ran a trade deficit of €14.6 billion ($17.4 billion) in the first nine months of this year, according to the Eurostat on Thursday.

The 28-member bloc's exports of goods rose by 4.1 percent year-on-year to reach nearly €1.45 trillion ($1.72 trillion), while imports from the rest of the world totaled some €1.46 trillion ($1.74 trillion) with an annual hike of 5.5 percent.

Eurostat noted that intra-EU28 trade were €2.6 trillion in the same period, up 5.1 percent on a yearly basis.

Between January and September, one euro was exchanged for $1.19 on average, while the average EUR/USD exchange rate was 1.11 over the same period last year.

The U.S. was the top market for EU exports, amounting to some €297.9 billion ($345.5 billion).

Following the U.S., the EU’s other main export destinations were China, Switzerland, Russia, and Turkey in the same period.

With some €286 billion ($340 billion) of total imports, China was the top source for the EU, followed by the U.S., Russia, Switzerland, and Norway.

The bloc saw the largest deficit with China -- around €132 billion ($157 billion) --, and the highest surplus with the U.S. -- some €101 billion ($120 billion) -- during the same period.