BRUSSELS The euro zone swung back into a large trade surplus in June from a similar size deficit 12 months earlier, as imports from both Russia and China fell sharply, data showed on Thursday.

The European Union's statistics office, Eurostat, said the unadjusted external trade surplus of the 20 countries sharing the euro was 23.0 billion euros ($25.01 billion) in June, compared with a 27.1 billion-deficit in June 2022.

Exports over the 12 months edged 0.3% higher, while imports plunged 17.7%.

Adjusted for seasonal swings, the trade surplus was 12.5 billion euros in June, up from 0.2 billion euros in May and compared with a 7.9 billion-euro deficit in April.

The improvement in the EU's trade balance was mainly a result of sharp falls in the trade deficits with Russia, due to Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine, and China.

The trade gap with Russia was down to 8.7 billion euros in the first six months of this year from 92.1 billion euros in the same period of 2022.

With China, the EU's trade deficit fell to 148.7 billion euros in the first half of the year from 189.3 billion euros in the same period a year earlier.

($1 = 0.9197 euros)

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Sharon Singleton)