Hungary's foreign trade surplus widened by 7.2% y/y to EUR 6.98bn in January to November 2013, the statistics office said, revising slightly up the preliminary figure of EUR 6.96bn. Exports grew by 1.9% y/y to EUR 76bn, slightly faster than the imports’ growth of 1.4% y/y to EUR 69bn.
In terms of specific commodity groups, exports of manufactured goods, which have a 32% share in total, expanded by 5% y/y to EUR 24.4bn. Machinery and transport equipment increased by 2% y/y and accounted for more than half of the total (53.4%). Exports of food, beverages, tobacco picked up by 0.3% y/y. By contrast, fuel exports declined by 10.6% y/y in January to November 2013. Exports of crude material exports were 8.6% lower on the year.
On the import side, manufactured goods advanced by 4% y/y. Imports of machinery and transport equipment, which was the most traded category in the period with a 45.6% share of total, increased by 0.9% y/y to EUR 31.5bn. Among groups with lower weight, imports of food, beverages, tobacco increased in the first eleven months of 2013, while imports of crude materials and fuels declined.
In November alone, Hungary’s foreign trade surplus widened by 45.5% y/y to EUR 825mn as exports rose by 1.8% y/y, while imports dropped by 1.8% y/y.
| Foreign trade in Jan-Nov 2013, EUR mn | ||||
| Import | % y/y | Export | % y/y | |
| Total | 69,005 | 1.4 | 75,987 | 1.9 |
| Food, beverages, tobacco | 3,577 | 0.5 | 6,076 | 0.3 |
| Crude materials | 1,609 | -6.9 | 2,325 | -8.6 |
| Fuels, electric energy | 8,547 | -1.3 | 2,670 | -10.6 |
| Manufactured goods | 23,785 | 4.0 | 24,352 | 5.0 |
| Machinery and transport equipment | 31,486 | 0.9 | 40,564 | 2.0 |
| Source: KSH | ||||
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