Also striking is the fact that the share of total euro-area exports destined for other members of the euro-zone did not increase with the introduction of the new currency, as would be likely if the common currency promoted trade.
Indeed, at about 50 percent of total exports, the intra-euro-area export share today remains noticeably below the recent peak of about 57 percent reached in the early 1990s. The most decisive evidence on the trade question can be found by looking at microdata.