Hungary's foreign trade surplus widened by 18.3% y/y to EUR 1.93bn in the first quarter 2014, the statistics office said, revising down the preliminary estimate of EUR 1.92bn, published on May 8. Exports grew by 5.1% y/y to EUR 20.83bn in Q1 2014, while imports grew at the slower pace of 3.9% y/y to EUR 18.9bn.
In terms of specific commodity groups, exports of machinery and transport equipment, which had a 53.9% share in total, expanded by 6.4% y/y to EUR 11.2bn. Exports of manufactured goods increased by 4.8% y/y and accounted for a third of the total (32.3%). Exports of food, beverages, tobacco advanced by 11.3% y/y. By contrast, exports of crude material as well fuels and electric energy declined by 11.9% and 8.3% y/y, respectively.
On the import side, manufactured goods advanced by 8% y/y. Imports of machinery and transport equipment, which was the most traded category in the period with a 45.1% share of total, increased by 6.7% y/y to EUR 6.8bn. Imports of food, beverages, tobacco were up by 7.1% y/y as well, while imports of crude materials stagnated in the period. Finally, imports of fuels declined by 15.3% y/y in Q1.
In March alone, Hungary's foreign trade surplus widened by 3.1% y/y to EUR 688mn as exports rose by 7.3% y/y, while imports were up by 8.6% y/y.
| Foreign trade in Q1 2014, EUR mn | ||||
| Import | % y/y | Export | % y/y | |
| Total | 18,901 | 3.9 | 20,830 | 5.1 |
| Food, beverages, tobacco | 1,006 | 7.1 | 1,662 | 11.3 |
| Crude materials | 437 | -0.1 | 587 | -11.9 |
| Fuels, electric energy | 2,138 | -15.3 | 642 | -8.3 |
| Manufactured goods | 6,788 | 8.0 | 6,720 | 4.8 |
| Machinery and transport equipment | 8,531 | 6.7 | 11,219 | 6.4 |
| Source: KSH | ||||
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