The trade deficit of the 17-member eurozone widened to 14.8 billion euros (20.5 billion U.S. dollars) in January, the European Union's statistics office Eurostat said Friday.

The bloc saw a trade deficit of 0.5 billion euros (0.69 billion U.S. dollars) in December.

Year on year, eurozone exports rose 27 percent, while imports increased 29 percent in January, according to the flash estimates of Eurostat.

The 27-nation EU registered a trade deficit of 29.8 billion euros (41.4 billion dollars) in the month compared with a deficit of 10.9 billion euros (15.1 billion dollars) in December last year.

The EU deficit for energy increased from 240.2 billion euros (333.8 billion dollar) in 2009 to 297.1 billion euros (412.9 billion dollars) in 2010 while surplus for manufactured goods rose to 177.9 billion euros (247.2 billion dollars) from 163.0 billion euros (226.5 billion dollars) in 2009.

During 2010, EU trade with all its major partners grew compared with 2009. The most notable increases were recorded for exports to Brazil, Turkey and China, and for imports from Russia, China and India.

The EU's exports to China rose 37 percent, while imports increased 32 percent during the year, according to Eurostat.