Hungary's foreign trade surplus widened by 11.1% y/y to EUR 2.56bn in the first four months of 2014, the statistics office said, revising only marginally the preliminary estimate, published on June 6. Exports grew by 4.6% y/y to EUR 27.9bn in Jan-April 2014, while imports grew at the slower pace of 4% y/y to EUR 23.35bn.
In terms of specific commodity groups, exports of machinery and transport equipment, which had a 53.9% share in total, expanded by 5.9% y/y to EUR 15bn. Exports of manufactured goods increased by 4.4% y/y and accounted for a third of the total (32.4%). Exports of food, beverages, tobacco advanced by 7.6% y/y. By contrast, exports of crude material as well fuels and electric energy declined by 11.7% and 5.3% y/y, respectively.
On the import side, manufactured goods advanced by 7.1% y/y. Imports of machinery and transport equipment, which was the most traded category in the period with a 45.4% share of total, increased by 6.4% y/y to EUR 11.5bn. Imports of food, beverages, tobacco were up by 8.1% y/y as well, while imports of crude materials edged down by 0.8% y/y in the period. Finally, imports of fuels declined by 12.7% y/y in Jan-Apr.
In April alone, Hungary's foreign trade surplus narrowed by 6.6% y/y to EUR 629mn as exports rose by 3.1% y/y, while imports were up by 4.2% y/y.
Foreign trade in Jan-Apr 2014, EUR mn | ||||
Import | % y/y | Export | % y/y | |
Total | 25,345 | 4.0 | 27,903 | 4.6 |
Food, beverages, tobacco | 1,338 | 8.1 | 2,188 | 7.6 |
Crude materials | 580 | -0.8 | 766 | -11.7 |
Fuels, electric energy | 2,816 | -12.7 | 878 | -5.3 |
Manufactured goods | 9,097 | 7.1 | 9,036 | 4.4 |
Machinery and transport equipment | 11,514 | 6.4 | 15,035 | 5.9 |
Source: KSH |
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