A surplus of 513 million euros was generated in foreign trade

By: Trademagazin Date: 2023. 04. 11. 09:35

A surplus of 513 million euros was generated in foreign trade in the second month of the year, which exceeded expectations, mainly thanks to the reduction in energy prices. Partly due to the high base of a year ago, the euro value of exports increased by 10.5%, while at the same time, despite the slowdown in domestic demand and the drop in energy prices at the end of last year, the euro value of imports increased by only 3.8%.

Accordingly, the foreign trade balance improved by 749 million euros compared to the deficit of 236 million euros a year ago, so it shows the second monthly and, moreover, very significant improvement since the beginning of 2021, which may be a sign of the expected trend reversal. In 2022, as a whole, exports increased by 19.3% compared to the previous year, while the euro value of imports increased by 28.2%, correspondingly, the foreign trade balance deteriorated by 10,216 million euros, resulting in a deficit of 8,593 million euros in the same year against a previous surplus of 1,623 million euros.

The drastic increase in the prices of energy carriers and other raw materials significantly worsened the exchange rates. The energy balance alone contributed 9,791 million euros to the deterioration of the foreign trade balance last year, which exceeded the deterioration of the balance in the first eleven months of 9,623 million euros, i.e. the balance could have improved without the deterioration of the exchange rates.