BRUSSELS - Eurozone's trade surplus dropped sharply in 2010 compared with the previous year, the European Union's (EU's) statistics office Eurostat said on Tuesday.

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According to the flash estimates of Eurostat, eurozone registered a trade surplus of 0.7 billion euros ($0.9 billion) last year, much lower than the 16.6 billion euros ($22.4 billion) it secured in 2009.

In December 2010, the 17-member bloc saw a trade deficit of 0.5 billion euros ($0.6 billion), while it registered a trade surplus of 3.2 billion euros ($4.3 billion) in the same period of 2009.

Year on year, eurozone exports rose by 20 percent, while imports increased by 20 percent in December.

The 27-nation EU registered a larger deficit in 2010. Its trade balance with the rest of the world was a 14.3-billion-euro (19.3-billion-dollar) deficit, compared with a deficit of 108.1 billion euros ($145.9 billion) in 2009.

During the first 11 months of last year, EU trade with all its major partners grew compared with the same period of 2009.