Hungary's foreign trade surplus widens 18.3% y/y in Q1 2014 - revised data

By bne IntelliNews June 3, 2014

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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