Hungary's foreign trade surplus shrank by 1.4% y/y to EUR 3.95bn in January to July 2013, the statistics office said, revising slightly up the preliminary figure of EUR 3.93bn. Exports grew by 1.5% y/y to EUR 47.14bn, slightly slower than the imports’ growth of 1.8% y/y to EUR 43.19bn.
In terms of specific commodity groups, exports of manufactured goods, which have a 32.6% share in total, expanded by 6.1% y/y to EUR 15.4bn. Machinery and transport equipment picked up by 1.1% y/y and accounted for more than half of the total (53.2%). By contrast, fuel exports declined by 14.5% y/y in January to July 2013. Food and crude material exports were 2% and 7.4% lower on the year, respectively.
On the import side, manufactured goods advanced by 4.7% y/y. Imports of machinery and transport equipment, which was the most traded category in the period with a 45.4% share of total, increased by 1% y/y to EUR 19.9bn. Among groups with lower weight, imports of food, beverages, tobacco increased in the first seven months of 2013, while imports of crude materials and fuels declined.
In July alone, Hungary’s foreign trade surplus widened by 18% y/y to EUR 448.2mn as exports advanced by 7.4% y/y and imports grew by 6.4% y/y.
| Foreign trade in Jan-July 2013, EUR mn | ||||
| Import | % y/y | Export | % y/y | |
| Total | 43,185 | 1.8 | 47,139 | 1.5 |
| Food, beverages, tobacco | 2,229 | 2.6 | 3,660 | -2.0 |
| Crude materials | 991 | -7.2 | 1,475 | -7.4 |
| Fuels, electric energy | 5,411 | -1.2 | 1,546 | -14.5 |
| Manufactured goods | 14,964 | 4.7 | 15,372 | 6.1 |
| Machinery and transport equipment | 19,590 | 1.0 | 25,086 | 1.1 |
| Source: KSH | ||||
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