Hungary's current account surplus expanded by 256% y/y to EUR 2.94bn in 2013, central bank data showed. In our estimates, the surplus accounted for 3.1% of the full-year GDP.
The surplus on the foreign trade account widened by 24.3% y/y to EUR 4.31bn. Exports advanced 2.9% y/y to EUR 77.83bn, while imports grew at the slower pace of 1.9% y/y to EUR 73.52bn. The surplus on the service account grew by 4% y/y to EUR 3.5bn in 2013.
The deficit on the income account narrowed by 7.4% in annual terms to EUR 5.93bn. The balance of current transfers registered a surplus of EUR 1.06bn, up by 164% on the year. This was due to higher net EU transfers, which grew to EUR 120.3mn in 2013 from minus EUR 164.7mn in 2012.
The surplus on the capital account widened by 31.7% y/y to EUR 3.39bn in 2013. This combined with the current account surplus led to net external financing capacity of EUR 6.33bn in 2013, up from EUR 3.4bn a year earlier.
The financial account improved mainly due to rising portfolio investments, which grew to EUR 3.14bn from minus EUR 1.86bn in the previous year. By contrast, the net FDI dropped to EUR 615mn in 2013 from EUR 2.05bn a year earlier and net other investments increased 17% y/y to minus EUR 10.4bn.
| Hungary current account, EUR mn | |||
| 2012 | 2013 | % y/y | |
| Current Account | 826 | 2940.8 | 255.8 |
| Goods | 3468.6 | 4313.2 | 24.3 |
| Export | 75653.9 | 77834.0 | 2.9 |
| Import | 72185.2 | 73520.7 | 1.9 |
| Services | 3363.2 | 3498.2 | 4.0 |
| Export | 15930.8 | 16204.8 | 1.7 |
| Import | 12567.6 | 12706.7 | 1.1 |
| Travel | 2243.5 | 2382.9 | 6.2 |
| Income | -6407.9 | -5933.1 | -7.4 |
| Current transfers | 402.5 | 1062.5 | 164.0 |
| of which: EU transfers | -164.7 | 120.3 | -173.0 |
| Source: Central bank | |||
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