Bulgaria's foreign trade deficit expanded 19.4% to BGN5.7bn (€2.9bn) in 2014, preliminary statistics office data showed. The trade gap equalled 7% of the expected GDP, up from 5.9% a year earlier.
Exports (FOB) fell 0.7% y/y to BGN43.2bn. Sales to non-EU countries (third countries) shrank 6.6% y/y to BGN16.3bn, while exports to the EU rose 3.2% y/y to BGN27bn.
The annual decline in exports can be largely attributed to the lower sales of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials to third countries, which dropped 13.3% y/y to BGN4.4bn. In addition, sales of crude materials, fuels excluded, to third countries, plunged 28.8% y/y to BGN1.2bn and those of food and live animals fell 8.7% y/y to BGN1.5bn.
Turkey remained Bulgaria's main export market outside the EU, buying 24.9% of the goods sold to third countries. Singapore ranked second with 6.8%, and China was third with 6.4%.
Bulgaria imported (FOB) BGN48.9bn worth of goods in 2014, up 1.2% y/y. Imports from the EU rose 4.1% y/y to BGN30.1bn, while imports from third countries fell 3.1% y/y to BGN18.8bn. Russia was the main source of Bulgaria's non-EU imports with a 39.5% share, trailed by Turkey with 14.7%.
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