Hungary's foreign trade surplus widened by 3% y/y to EUR 1.74bn in Q1 2013, the statistics office said, revising upwards the preliminary figure of EUR 1.7bn. Imports edged down by 0.3% y/y to EUR 18.2bn, while exports remained flat on the year at EUR 19.9bn.
In terms of specific commodity groups, imports of manufactured goods advanced by 3.3% y/y. Imports of fuel and electricity increased as well, while food, beverages, tobacco imports remained unchanged in annual comparison. Imports of machinery and transport equipment, which was the most traded category in the period with a 44% share of total, declined by 2.6% y/y to EUR 8bn.
On the exports side, manufactured goods, which have a 32.3% share in total, grew 5.4% y/y to EUR 6.4bn. By contrast, machinery and transport equipment decreased by 1.9% y/y but still accounted for more than half of the total (53.4%). Fuel exports declined by 12.8% y/y in the first three months of 2013. Food exports were 2% lower on the year.
In March alone, Hungary’s foreign trade surplus expanded by 33.1% y/y to EUR 784mn as exports dropped by 5.8% y/y, faster than imports decline of 2.6% y/y.
| Foreign trade in Q1 2013, EUR mn | ||||
| Import | % y/y | Export | % y/y | |
| Total | 18,171 | -0.3 | 19,911 | 0.0 |
| Food, beverages, tobacco | 955 | 0.0 | 1,504 | -2.0 |
| Crude materials | 428 | -8.8 | 662 | 0.3 |
| Fuels, electric energy | 2,478 | 0.0 | 686 | -12.8 |
| Manufactured goods | 6,313 | 3.3 | 6,427 | 5.4 |
| Machinery and transport equipment | 7,999 | -2.6 | 10,632 | -1.9 |
| Source: KSH | ||||
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