Hungary's foreign trade surplus widened by 8.6% y/y to EUR 3.1bn in January to May 2013, the statistics office said, revising downwards the preliminary figure of EUR 3.11bn. Export grew by 1.8% y/y to EUR 33.68bn, which was faster than the imports’ growth of 1.1% y/y to EUR 30.58bn.
In terms of specific commodity groups, exports of manufactured goods, which have a 32.4% share in total, grew 6.4% y/y to EUR 10.9bn. Machinery and transport equipment picked up by 0.8% y/y and accounted for more than half of the total (53.3%). By contrast, fuel exports declined by 12.4% y/y in the first five months of 2013. Food and crude material exports were 0.9% and 2.7% lower on the year, respectively.
On the import side, manufactured goods advanced by 3.2% y/y. Imports of machinery and transport equipment, which was the most traded category in the period with a 44.9% share of total, edged up by 1.1% y/y to EUR 13.72bn. Among groups with lower weight in total, imports of food, beverages, tobacco increased in Jan-May, while imports of crude materials and fuels saw annual decline in the period.
In May alone, Hungary’s foreign trade surplus declined by 12% y/y to EUR 641.1mn as exports decreased by 1.9% y/y, faster than the imports' drop of 0.7% y/y.
| Foreign trade in Jan-May 2013, EUR mn | ||||
| Import | % y/y | Export | % y/y | |
| Total | 30,579 | 1.1 | 33,678 | 1.8 |
| Food, beverages, tobacco | 1,587 | 0.5 | 2,605 | -0.9 |
| Crude materials | 709 | -8.0 | 1,075 | -2.7 |
| Fuels, electric energy | 3,947 | -2.2 | 1,142 | -12.4 |
| Manufactured goods | 10,618 | 3.2 | 10,902 | 6.4 |
| Machinery and transport equipment | 13,719 | 1.1 | 17,954 | 0.8 |
| Source: KSH | ||||
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