The eurozone nations experienced a dampening of their international trade performance during March 2018, according to the latest official data.

Figures from the statistics agency Eurostat showed that the 19-country bloc saw its goods exports falling by 2.9 per cent compared to a year ago, while imports sunk by 2.5 per cent over the same period.

As such, the eurozone recorded a trade surplus of €26.9 billion for March, which was above the €18.9 billion figure for February, but down from the €28.5 billion figure from March 2017.

When taking seasonal effects into account, exports were actually up by 0.8 per cent month-on-month, while imports ticked upwards by 0.7 per cent. However, this remained below the levels seen in November, December and January.

This data provides further evidence that recent trade tensions between the US and China are leading to a softening of global demand, a view stated by the World Trade Organization earlier this month.