Hungary's foreign trade surplus widened by 1.3% y/y to EUR 5.4bn in January to September 2013, the statistics office said, revising slightly down the preliminary figure of EUR 5.41bn. Exports grew by 1.6% y/y to EUR 60.87bn, slightly slower than the imports’ growth of 1.7% y/y to EUR 55.47bn.
In terms of specific commodity groups, exports of manufactured goods, which have a 32.3% share in total, expanded by 5.4% y/y to EUR 19.67bn. Machinery and transport equipment increased by 1.6% y/y and accounted for more than half of the total (53.2%). By contrast, fuel exports declined by 12.8% y/y in January to September 2013. Food and crude material exports were 1.4% and 8% lower on the year, respectively.
On the import side, manufactured goods advanced by 4.4% y/y. Imports of machinery and transport equipment, which was the most traded category in the period with a 45.5% share of total, increased by 1.2% y/y to EUR 25.23bn. Among groups with lower weight, imports of food, beverages, tobacco increased in the first nine months of 2013, while imports of crude materials and fuels declined.
In September alone, Hungary’s foreign trade surplus widened by 16.1% y/y to EUR 830.3mn as exports rose by 7.2% y/y while imports grew at the slower rate of 6.2% y/y.
| Foreign trade in Jan-Sep 2013, EUR mn | ||||
| Import | % y/y | Export | % y/y | |
| Total | 55,474 | 1.7 | 60,872 | 1.6 |
| Food, beverages, tobacco | 2,871 | 2.4 | 4,830 | -1.4 |
| Crude materials | 1,290 | -7.1 | 1,879 | -8.0 |
| Fuels, electric energy | 6,869 | -2.2 | 2,092 | -12.8 |
| Manufactured goods | 19,216 | 4.4 | 19,658 | 5.4 |
| Machinery and transport equipment | 25,229 | 1.2 | 32,413 | 1.6 |
| Source: KSH | ||||
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