Kazakh foreign trade surplus plummets over 60% to $11.2bn in Jan-Aug

By bne IntelliNews October 27, 2015

Kazakhstan’s foreign trade surplus shrank drastically to $11.2bn in January-August, the State Statistics Committee has informed. In the same period of the previous year, trade surplus stood at $28.4bn. The main reason for such a huge decrease is a decline in the price of oil, the main commodity exported by Kazakhstan, which generated around two-thirds of the country’s total export revenues last year.

According to the data, exports slumped by 41.8% y/y to $32bn while imports went down by 21.8% y/y to $20.8bn.

Despite these changes, the structure of the foreign trade partners remained unchanged. Kazakhstan exports mainly to Italy (a 18% share in total exports). Then comes China with 11.9% share, Netherlands (11.5%), Russia (9.6%) and France (5.9%). Interestingly, the share of Russia increased from around 6% last year. This is a result of a change in the structure of exports – Russia does not import oil from Kazakhstan, which is cheap now, but it mainly purchases machinery and chemical products.

Imports to Kazakhstan came traditionally from Russia (a 33.7% share in total imports), China (17.2%), Germany (6.1%), the USA (4.8%) and Italy (3.8%).

The low price of oil is projected for the next two years which means that Kazakhstan’s foreign trade surplus will continue to shrink at least until the end of the year. 

Read in IntelliNews Pro
Get IntelliNews Pro

Related Articles

Annual inflation Uzbekistan edges up to 8.1% in April from 8.0% in March

Inflation in Uzbekistan was in April recorded at  0.93% m/m and 8.08% y/y, according to the national ... more

Uzbekistan's 4M24 budget deficit hits $2bn, sparking fiscal concerns

The state budget deficit of Uzbekistan, amounting to Uzbekistani som (UZS) 25.6 trillion ($2.0bn) in the first four months of 2024, has surpassed expectations, raising concerns about the country's ... more

Mirziyoyev commends $74bn of foreign investment and IFI inflows as third Tashkent International Investment Forum kicks off

The foreign investment inflow into Uzbekistan has topped $60bn in recent years, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted as the third Tashkent International Investment Forum (TIIF-2024) got under way. ... more

Follow Us On

Most Read

  1. Shocking trial of ex-minister has shifted domestic violence attitudes in Kazakhstan, says brother
    4 days ago
  2. Cheap Russian drones overwhelm US-made Abrams tanks, taken out of action
    9 days ago
  3. COMMENT: Aliyev continues to block the chance of peace in the South Caucasus
    6 days ago
  4. Russia is producing weapons at a record pace, and Ukraine’s partners are trying to increase support for Kyiv
    5 days ago
  5. Central European populism bites the hand that feeds it
    6 days ago
  1. Albanians campaign on social media to keep bus bridge created in freak accident
    2 years ago
  2. Saudi Arabia to scale back plans for Neom city
    26 days ago
  3. Iran vs Israel: Who is better equipped for war?
    22 days ago
  4. Leading emerging markets move rapidly up World Bank’s PPP GDP and FDI confidence rankings
    27 days ago
  5. Oil continues to flow to Israel via Turkey despite Erdogan’s vehement speeches on plight of Gaza
    6 months ago

Reports

Dismiss