External trade surplus was EUR 517 million in April
In April 2018, export volume increased by 12% and import volume by 16% compared to the same month of the previous year. The surplus was EUR 517 million, EUR 282 million less than the figure in April 2017. According to calendar adjusted figures, export and import volumes increased by 4.1% and 8.7%, respectively. In the first four months of 2018, the external trade surplus was EUR 2.6 billion.
In April 2018:
The value of exports amounted to EUR 8.6 billion (HUF 2,677 billion) and that of imports to EUR 8.1 billion (HUF 2,516 billion).
In April 2018 compared to the same month of the previous year:
The value of exports increased by 11% and that of imports by 16% in EUR terms.
The surplus on trade was down by EUR 282 million. (The balance is EUR 19 million less than the value published in the first estimate.)
The forint price level of external trade in goods didn’t change in imports, while it decreased by 0.7% in exports. The terms of trade deteriorated by 0.7%. The forint exchange rate didn’t change against the euro and appreciated by 13% against the dollar.
Calculated at prices of April 2017, the trade of machinery and transport equipment increased by 14% in exports and by 13% in imports. The exports of road vehicles increased by one-tenth, and their imports by more than one-tenth, which was due to the change in the trade of passenger vehicles and their components both in imports and in exports. The exports of power-generating machinery and their equipment increased by one-tenth, while their imports were down slightly. The import volume of telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment decreased by nearly one-tenth, while their export volume grew by about one-seventh. The decrease in imports was mainly connected to the change in the trade of mobile and radio navigation devices and their components, while the growth in their exports to that of radar equipment helping car driving. The imports of electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances increased by one-fifth; in the growth, the imports of electrical apparatus for switching or protecting electrical circuits, electronic integrated circuits and electric conductors for a voltage were dominant.
The export volume of manufactured goods increased by 12% and their import volume by 19%. The exports of medical and pharmaceutical products increased by more than one-tenth and their imports by more than one-third. The exports of plastics in primary forms grew by more than one-seventh, while their imports were up slightly. The exports of professional, scientific and controlling instruments and apparatus, n.e.s. was by a few percent higher than in the same period of the previous year, while their imports grew by nearly one-sixth. In exports, the change in the trade of medical, control and measuring instruments, and in imports, that of automatic regulating or controlling insturments and medical control and measuring instruments and their parts was dominant. The trade of iron and steel was up by nearly one-fifth in imports and by more than one-fourth in exports; the growth was due to the change in the turnover of flat-rolled products of iron in both directions. Both the exports and imports of non-ferrous metals grew by nearly one-sixth as a result of the change in the trade of the aluminium sheet, plate and strip in imports and that of different aluminium products in exports. Both the exports and imports of other metal products increased by one-tenth. The turnover of manufactures of metals had a sifnificant effect in imports, while in exports the change in the trade of structural components of iron and steel was dominant.
The import volume of fuels and electricity increased by 36%. The imports of petroleum, petroleum products and related materials grew by more than 40%, while their exports was up to a lesser extent, by more than one-fourth. The imports of natural and manufactured gas increased significantly, by more than half. The imports of electricity increased slightly.
The export volume of food, beverages and tobacco was down by 5.2% and their import volume grew by 16%. The exports of cereals and cereal preparations decreased by nearly half, while their imports increased by more than one-fourth. In exports, the decline in the trade of wheat and corn-seed, in imports, the growth in the trade of corn-seed was dominant. The exports of meat and meat products slightly increased, and their imports grew by more than one-tenth. The increase was mainly connected to the trade of poultry for human consumption in both directions. The exports of beverages and tobacco increased by more than 40%, and their imports were up by nearly one-fourth. In imports, the change in the turnover of unprocessed tobacco and mineral water, in exports that of mineral water, cigarette and cigar was dominant.
Both the volume of exports to EU member states and that of imports from these countries were by 12% higher. The surplus on trade was up by EUR 52 million and amounted to EUR 771 million. The share of the trade with these countries was 81% in exports and 76% in imports.
In extra-EU trade, the volume of exports was up by 9.5% and that of imports by 33%. The trade balance with this group of countries deteriorated by EUR 334 million and showed a deficit of EUR 253 million.
External trade in goods by groups of countries, April 2018*
| Groups of countries | Value, at current prices | Value index calculated from data in |
Volume index | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| billion HUF | million EUR | HUF | EUR | ||
| the same period of the previous year=100.0% | |||||
| Imports | |||||
| European Union (EU-28) | 1 919 | 6 159 | 112.7 | 112.6 | 111.8 |
| Extra-EU countries | 597 | 1 916 | 129.3 | 128.1 | 132.9 |
| Total | 2 516 | 8 075 | 116.2 | 116.0 | 116.2 |
| Exports | |||||
| European Union (EU-28) | 2 159 | 6 930 | 112.0 | 112.0 | 112.2 |
| Extra-EU countries | 518 | 1 663 | 106.5 | 105.5 | 109.5 |
| Total | 2 677 | 8 593 | 110.9 | 110.7 | 111.7 |
*Based on raw (unadjusted) data.
In January–April 2018:
The value of exports amounted to EUR 34.7 billion (HUF 10,813 billion) and that of imports to EUR 32.1 billion (HUF 9,997 billion).
In January–April 2018 compared to the same period of the previous year:
The volume of exports was up by 5.8% and that of imports by 7.4%.
The surplus on the trade balance decreased by EUR 326 million and amounted to EUR 2.6 billion.
The forint price level of external trade in goods decreased by 0.1% both in exports and in imports compared to the first four months of the previous year. The terms of trade didn’t change. The forint exchange rate depreciated by 0.5% against the euro, but appreciated by 13% against the dollar.
External trade in goods, January–April 2018
| 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 | |
| Billion HUF | 10 813 | 105.7 | 9 997 | 107.3 | 815 | 913 |
| Million EUR | 34 735 | 105.1 | 32 111 | 106.7 | 2 624 | 2 950 |