According to estimates by Eurostat, the European Statistical Office, the EU27 registered a huge deficit in its balance of current accounts amounting to 23.7 billion Euros in the first quarter of 2008. Even though this result is better than in the first quarter of 2007 (then -30.4 billion Euros), it is significantly higher than in the fourth quarter of 2007 (-2.8 billion).
With regard to the trade in services with third party countries, however, the EU27 reached a surplus of 16.3 billion Euros in the first quarter 2008 following surpluses of +18.9 billion and 21.4 billion in the first and fourth quarters of 2007 respectively. 
| The EU27 comprises: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and Great Britain. |