According the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, during the first three quarters of 2005 EU imports from the GCC jumped 72% over the previous year, reaching EUR 26.3 bn. Meanwhile, exports went up by only 23% to EUR 34.4 bn.
The January-September 2005 trade surplus amounted to EUR 8.1 bn, while the corresponding figure for 2004 was EUR 12.8 bn.
It should be noted that Saudi Arabia accounted for 65% of EU imports to the region between 2001 to 2004.
