Slovakia’s foreign trade surplus narrowed by 34.6% on the month to EUR 314mn in November 2013, preliminary data from the statistics office showed. Compared to the same month of 2012, the November trade surplus edged up by 0.2%. The office revised October surplus down to EUR 480.3mn from EUR 483.1mn announced earlier.
Exports, which have been the sole driving force of the Slovak economic growth in 2012, rose by 4.6% y/y, following a revised 2.6% annual increase in October. Imports in November went up by 4.8% y/y after rising by a revised 4.5% y/y in October. On a monthly basis, November’s exports fell 2.2% and imports increased by 0.5%.
For the first 11 months of the year, exports increased by 3.4% y/y to EUR 59.76bn, while imports rose 1.5% y/y to EUR 55.18bn, resulting in a foreign trade surplus of EUR 4.58bn, higher by 31.8% compared to the same period last year.
IntelliNews comment: Slovakia’s exports grew in most months of 2013 but the annual growth rates were much weaker than those in 2012. Timid foreign demand has affected the country’s economic growth, which is forecasted to slow below 1% in 2013 compared to 2% a year earlier. Forecasts for 2014 are more positive as demand from abroad is expected to become stronger pushing the GDP growth up to 2%.
| EUR mn | Nov-13 | Oct-13 | Nov-12 | 2012 |
| Imports | 5,776.4 | 5,748.6 | 5,511.4 | 58,588.4 |
| Exports | 6,090.3 | 6,228.9 | 5,824.9 | 62,144.0 |
| Balance | 314.0 | 480.3 | 313.4 | 3,555.7 |
| y/y % change | ||||
| Imports | 4.8% | 4.5% | 5.2% | 5.1% |
| Exports | 4.6% | 2.6% | 8.9% | 9.4% |
| Source: Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic |
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