The eurozone achieved an external trade surplus of 4.3 billion euros (about 5.9 billion dollars) in July, the European Union's (EU) statistics bureau Eurostat said on Friday.

Seasonally adjusted exports and imports rose by 2.0 percent and by 1.9 percent respectively in July as against June.

Data show that trade surplus in June 2011 was 0.1 billion euros and was 4.7 billion euros in July 2010.

For the 27-nation EU, trade balance for July 2011 recorded a deficit of 8.0 billion euros, about 0.5 billion euros higher than a year ago but down by 4.8 billion euros from June.

Seasonally adjusted export and import rose by 3.2 percent and 1.4 percent respectively in July as against June.