BRUSSELS, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- The eurozone registered an external trade surplus of 7.8 billion euros (10.5 billion U.S. dollars) in June, up from 1.7 billion euros in May, the European Union (EU)'s statistics bureau Eurostat said Tuesday.

    A year ago the surplus was 1.6 billion euros.

    The trade surplus increase in the 13-nation bloc sharing the same currency was achieved by strong exports.

    Compared to the same period of last year, exports from the eurozone increased by 9 percent to 128.3 billion euros, faster than imports, which rose by 4 percent to 120.5 billion euros.

    According to Eurostat, the 27-nation EU recorded a trade deficit of 9.4 billion euros in June, down from 15 billion euros in the previous month and 13.3 billion euros a year ago.

    During the period from January to May, the energy trade remained the largest source of deficit for the EU, but that deficit decreased to 102.5 billion euros, compared to 118.9 billion euros in the same period of last year.

    Meanwhile, surpluses rose in the chemicals sector from 30.1 billion euros to 31.3 billion euros, and for machinery and vehicles from 34.7 billion euros to 44.8 billion euros.