Turkey remains the fifth largest trading partner of the European Union (EU), with a total of 78 billion euros in exports and 66.7 billion euros in imports last year.

According to the data compiled from the European Statistical Office (Eurostat), the 28-member EU reached 1.74 trillion euros in exports and 1.7 trillion euros in imports during the January-December period of 2016.

EU exports to Turkey last year amounted to 78 billion euros, recording a 1 percent decrease compared to the same period of the previous year.

EU imports from Turkey, on the other hand, increased by 8 percent to 66.7 billion euros in comparison with 2015. Thus, Turkey has maintained its position as the fifth most important country in the EU's foreign trade, followed by Japan, Norway, South Korea, India and Canada.

The US is EU's largest trading partner

The United States continued to be the EU's largest trading partner in 2016 with 362 billion euros in exports and 246.8 billion euros in imports. However, EU exports and imports to the U.S. decreased by 2 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

During the same period, China became the second largest trading partner of the EU, reaching 344.6 billion euros in imports and 170.1 billion euros in exports. While the EU countries' export to China did remained the same in comparison with 2015, imports from China decreased by 2 percent. EU's trade relations with Russia declines Switzerland is the EU's third most important trading partner with 142.4 billion euros in exports and 121.6 billion euros in imports. The EU's exports to Switzerland decreased by 5 percent in the said period, while imports increased by 19 percent.

Russia is the EU's fourth largest trading partner, with 72.4 billion euros in exports and 118.7 billion euros in imports. However, EU exports to Russia last year decreased by 2 percent compared to the previous year, while imports from Russia decreased by 13 percent.