Moldova’s exports hit a new record in October, after they soared by 34% y/y to $268mn according to data from the statistics bureau BNS. The exports expressed in US dollars were the highest in the past decade, 5% above the second-best performance in November 2013.
The dynamics of Moldova’s exports expressed in euros — more appropriate as a currency of denomination given country’s foreign trade is predominantly oriented toward EU countries — is not much different: the exports increased by only 25% y/y according to bne IntelliNews calculations but still achieved the decade’s best performance.
Furthermore, the record hit in October followed a steady increase seen since the beginning of 2016 irrespective of the currency used to express country’s exports. Thus, the exports in the rolling 12 months to October hit nearly €2.1bn, 18% up y/y.
In January-October, exports increased by 17.5% y/y to $1.920bn. Exports to European Union countries accounted for 65% of the total and Romania alone accounted for a quarter of Moldova’s exports. Exports to Romania increased by 17.6% y/y in January-October, in line with the average. The second-largest export destination was Russia (11% of the total) but exports to Russia increased by only 7.3% y/y in the ten-month period. Among the large export destinations, the highest growth rates were seen in the case of Germany (where exports increased by 32% y/y to account for 6.7% in January-October) and Poland (32% up y/y to nearly 4.0%).
By category of goods, farms’ output (fruits, vegetables, oilseeds), alcohol and tobacco account for the bulk of country’s exports — but electric machinery and machine parts are gaining ground. Thus, exports of fruits and vegetables increased by 37% y/y in January-October to 10.4% of the total and exports of oilseeds increased by 25% y/y to 9.5% of the total. Exports of alcohol and tobacco increased below average by 14.7% y/y and accounted for 8.4% of the total. At the same time, exports of electric machinery and machine parts increased by 37% y/y to 14.6% of the total.
FOREIGN TRADE | |||||||||||
EUR mn | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | Q3-16 | Q4-16 | Q1/17 | Q2 17 | Q3 17 | Oct-17 |
Total exports | 1,672 | 1,824 | 1,772 | 1,773 | 1,849 | 472 | 566 | 496 | 454 | 541 | 228 |
CIS | 719 | 695 | 556 | 444 | 374 | 101 | 105 | 99 | 101 | 104 | 37 |
EU | 783 | 853 | 945 | 1,097 | 1,205 | 305 | 386 | 315 | 287 | 360 | 160 |
Other | 170 | 276 | 272 | 232 | 270 | 65 | 75 | 81 | 66 | 78 | 31 |
Total imports | 4,033 | 4,127 | 4,036 | 3,598 | 3,632 | 919 | 1,041 | 968 | 1,045 | 1,092 | 396 |
CIS | 1,253 | 1,256 | 1,101 | 918 | 929 | 230 | 276 | 255 | 247 | 267 | 97 |
EU | 1,797 | 1,858 | 1,946 | 1,765 | 1,782 | 459 | 498 | 461 | 529 | 556 | 197 |
Other | 983 | 1,013 | 989 | 915 | 921 | 231 | 267 | 252 | 270 | 268 | 103 |
Total balance | -2,360 | -2,303 | -2,264 | -1,825 | -1,784 | -447 | -475 | -472 | -591 | -550 | -168 |
CIS | -534 | -562 | -545 | -474 | -555 | -128 | -171 | -155 | -146 | -164 | -60 |
EU | -1,014 | -1,005 | -1,001 | -668 | -577 | -153 | -112 | -145 | -241 | -196 | -37 |
Other | -813 | -736 | -717 | -683 | -652 | -165 | -192 | -171 | -204 | -190 | -72 |
Source: BNS | |||||||||||
y/y | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | Q3-16 | Q4-16 | Q1/17 | Q2 17 | Q2 20 | Oct-17 |
Total exports | 5.2% | 9.1% | -2.9% | 0.0% | 4.3% | 15.5% | 19.5% | 31.3% | 4.9% | 9.1% | 25.3% |
CIS | 9.0% | -3.3% | -20.0% | -20.1% | -15.8% | -10.0% | -8.6% | 29.2% | 10.8% | 4.3% | -3.8% |
EU | 0.9% | 9.0% | 10.7% | 16.1% | 9.8% | 24.5% | 32.8% | 30.8% | 5.4% | 14.2% | 33.5% |
Other | 10.5% | 62.2% | -1.7% | -14.7% | 16.3% | 28.7% | 9.8% | 35.8% | -4.6% | -4.4% | 30.9% |
Total imports | 8.4% | 2.3% | -2.2% | -10.8% | 0.9% | 4.7% | 11.2% | 24.0% | 17.2% | 12.8% | 14.9% |
CIS | 1.8% | 0.3% | -12.4% | -16.6% | 1.2% | 8.5% | 9.6% | 12.2% | 25.6% | 4.9% | 8.0% |
EU | 11.4% | 3.4% | 4.7% | -9.3% | 1.0% | 2.3% | 10.7% | 27.7% | 13.9% | 20.8% | 14.0% |
Other | 12.2% | 3.0% | -2.4% | -7.5% | 0.7% | 6.2% | 14.1% | 31.2% | 16.8% | 6.3% | 24.4% |
Total balance | 10.8% | -2.5% | -1.7% | -19.4% | -2.3% | -4.6% | 2.8% | 17.2% | 28.8% | 16.7% | 3.4% |
CIS | -6.6% | 5.1% | -2.9% | -13.0% | 17.1% | 29.5% | 24.7% | 3.4% | 38.4% | 5.3% | 16.9% |
EU | 21.0% | -0.9% | -0.3% | -33.3% | -13.6% | -24.5% | -29.7% | 21.4% | 26.1% | 35.0% | -30.2% |
Other | 12.6% | -9.4% | -2.6% | -4.7% | -4.6% | -0.7% | 15.9% | 29.1% | 25.9% | 11.4% | 21.7% |
Source: BNS, Intellinews |