BRUSSELS, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The euro zone swung to an unadjusted trade deficit in September from a surplus a year earlier as imports grew at almost double the rate of exports, the European Union's statistical office said on Monday.
The external trade shortfall of the 15 countries using the euro totalled 5.6 billion euros ($7.1 billion), compared to a 9.4 billion euro gap in August and a surplus of 2.9 billion euros a year earlier, Eurostat said.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 7.3 billion euro deficit for September.
The figures partially cover a period when the global financial crisis deepened sharply after the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in mid-September.
Adjusted for seasonal factors, the September deficit remained unchanged from August at 5.7 billion euros, with imports and exports growing at roughly the same pace month-on-month.
Detailed data for September was not yet available, but a breakdown for January-August showed a surge in the deficit in energy trade, despite falling oil prices, to 211.1 billion euros from 146.4 billion in the same period of 2007.
Crude oil costs fell significantly in August from a peak above $147 a barrel in July, but were still much higher than the $60-70 logged in the first half of 2007.
The increase in the energy deficit was partially offset by a higher surplus from manufactured goods, which increased to 197 billion euros in the first eight months of 2008 from 165.3 billion a year earlier, as the euro weakened against the dollar.
The euro fell to around $1.46 by the end of August from a peak above $1.60 in July.
While the trade gap with China stayed unchanged at 71 billion euros in January-August, the deficit with energy exporter Russia rose to 28.4 billion euros from 20.6 billion a year earlier.
The euro zone's trade surplus with the United States, the single currency area's second-biggest trading partner after Britain, fell to 33 billion euros from 42.2 billion. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, editing by Dale Hudson)