BRUSSELS, (Reuters) – The Euro zone’s October trade surplus was smaller than anticipated, according to data on Thursday. This is because the bloc’s energy trade deficit grew due to higher oil and gas prices.

According to Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical office Eurostat reported that the unadjusted surplus in trade between the 19 euro-using countries was only 3.6 Billion Euros in October. This is a decrease of 29.8 billion one year ago and half the 7.6 billion economists expected.

Eurostat reported that while exports were seasonally adjusted by 7.3% in October, imports rocketed to 24.1%. The trade surplus, adjusted for seasonal swings was 2.4% higher month-on-month with imports rising 4.3% and exports increasing by 2.4%.

The euro area imports much more energy from Russia and Norway, which is why this was so significant. From 131.6 billion during 2020’s same time, the total energy trade deficit for the entire European Union soared to 207.2 Billion Euros in the first 10 months.

From 151.8 billion during the previous period in 2020, EU’s deficit in trade with China was also higher at 189.2 Billion Euros in January-October than it was in 2020.

The bloc’s surplus trade with Britain continued growing after the United Kingdom left EU’s single markets at the beginning of 2021. It grew to 115.4 million euros in the first 10 months 2021, up from 88.2 trillion in 2020.