Published on: 3 March 2017

External trade surplus was EUR 579 million in December

In December 2016, the export volume increased by 8.0% and the import volume by 7.7%, and the surplus decreased by EUR 58 million compared to the same month of the previous year. In 2016, the external trade surplus was EUR 9.9 billion.

In December 2016:

The value of exports amounted to EUR 7.3 billion (HUF 2,265 billion), that of imports to EUR 6.7 billion (HUF 2,085 billion) and the external trade surplus was EUR 579 million (HUF 180 billion).

In December 2016 compared to the same month of the previous year:

The value of exports increased by 7.6 % and that of imports by 9.3% in EUR terms.

The surplus on trade decreased by EUR 58 million. (The balance is EUR 23 million more than the value published in the first estimate.)

The forint price level of external trade in goods decreased by 1.0% in exports and increased by 0.8% in imports. The terms of trade worsened by 1.8%. The forint exchange rate appreciated by 0.6% against the euro and depreciated by 2.4% against the dollar.

The volume of machinery and transport equipment increased by 8.2% in exports and 8.8% in imports. The export volume of power-generating machinery and equipment rose by nearly one-sixth and the import volume by about one-fourth. The exports of electric generators to the Unites States grew by more than one-half. The exports of gasoline engines increased by nearly one-tenth, while those of diesel engines decreased to the same extent. The imports of parts for internal combustion engines went up by one-fourth and those of gas turbines by around one-third. The imports of general industrial machineries (especially air and vacuum pumps) showed a significant growth of around one-third. The imports of telecommunications and sound recording apparatus and equipment rose by nearly one-fifth, in which the increase in the trade of mobile phones played a key role.

The export and import volumes of manufactured goods were up by 8.9% and 8.3%, respectively. The exports of medical and pharmaceutical products fell slightly, and their imports increased by nearly one-tenth due to the imported blood products. The exports of organic chemicals were up by nearly one-sixth and their imports rose by one-fourth. In exports, the trade of compounds with nitrogen function and in imports that of amine-function compounds expanded significantly. The exports of plastics in primary forms increased by more than one-fourth, mainly due to the considerable growth in the trade of aniline-resins. The imports of both plastics in non-primary forms and iron and steel grew by nearly one-sixth. In case of plastics in non-primary forms, the imports of tubes, pipes, hoses and fittings were dominant, while in the group of iron and steel, the imports of flat-rolled products were considerable.

The import volume of fuels and electricity increased by 1.9%. The imports of petroleum, petroleum products and related materials were up by nearly one-fifth. The imports of natural and manufactured gas decreased by about one-fifth. The imports of electricity were down by nearly one-tenth.

The export and import volumes of food, beverages and tobacco increased by 2.1% and 8.8%, respectively. The imports of vegetables and fruit rose by more than one-tenth, and their exportation decreased to the same extent. In imports, mainly the trade of bananas and citrus fruits expanded, while the decrease in exports was due to the declining trade of fresh vegetables. The imports of meat and meat preparations and cereals and cereal preparations went up by about one-fifth. The reason for this was the large volumes of pork imported from Poland and Spain, maize imported from France and Slovakia and baker’s wares imported from Germany.

The volume of exports to EU member states increased by 8.6% and that of imports from these countries by 9.4%. The surplus on our trade with EU member states decreased by EUR 45 million and amounted to EUR 361 million. The share of the trade with these countries was 75% in exports and 76% in imports.

In extra-EU trade, the volume of exports increased by 5.8% and that of imports by 2.7%. The trade balance with this group of countries worsened by EUR 13 million and showed a surplus of EUR 219 million.

External trade in goods by groups of countries, December 2016

Groups of countries Value, at current prices Value index calculated from data in Volume index
billion HUF million USD million EUR HUF USD EUR
the same period of the previous year=100.0
Imports
European Union (EU-28)1 5905 3755 091108.7106.2109.4109.4
Extra-EU countries4951 7011 603108.3108.3109.0102.7
Total2 0857 076 6 694108.6106.7109.3107.7
Exports
European Union (EU-28)1 7025 755 5 452107.1104.6107.8108.6
Extra-EU countries5631 9341 822106.3106.4107.0105.8
Total2 2657 6897 274106.9105.1107.6108.0

In January– December 2016:

The value of exports amounted to EUR 93.0 billion (HUF 28,977 billion) and that of imports to EUR 83.1 billion (HUF 25,883 billion).

In January–December 2016 compared to the same period of the previous year:

The volume of exports was up by 4.4% and that of imports by 4.7%.

The surplus on the trade balance increased by EUR 1.3 billion and amounted to EUR 9.9 billion.

The forint price level of external trade in goods decreased by 1.0% in exports and by 2.5% in imports. The terms of trade improved by 1.5%. The forint exchange rate depreciated by 0.5% against the euro and by 0.7% against the dollar.

External trade in goods

Denomination Exports Imports Balance
value, at current prices the same period of the previous year=100.0 value, at current prices the same period of the previous year=100.0 value, at current prices in the same period of the previous year
January–December 2016
Billion HUF28 977103.425 883102.13 0942 665
Million EUR93 046102.983 111101.59 9358 595
Million USD103 073102.892 054101.411 0199 529