The deficit of the external trade in goods amounted to EUR 271 million in December, compared to November the adjusted volume of export increased by 1.5% and that of import grew by 14%
The volume of export decreased by 8.4% in December 2023 and that of import declined by 0.8% compared to the same period of the previous year. The deficit was EUR 271 million, the balance improved by EUR 27 million year-on-year. Compared to November, the seasonally and working-day adjusted volume of export increased by 1.5% and that of import grew by 14%.
In December 2023:
The value of export amounted to EUR 10.2 billion (HUF 3,897 billion), that of import to EUR 10.5 billion (HUF 4,000 billion).
In December 2023 compared to a year earlier:
The value of export decreased by 9.1% and that of import declined by 9.0% in EUR terms.
According to calendar-adjusted data, the volume of export lessened by 1.6%, while that of import increased by 4.4%.
The balance of the external trade in goods improved by EUR 27 million. (The balance showed a EUR 83 million higher deficit than the one published in the first estimate.)
The HUF price level of the external trade in goods decreased by 6.9% in exports and was down by 14% in imports compared to the same month of the previous year. The terms of trade improved by 8.3%. The HUF exchange rate strengthened by 6.3% against the EUR and by 9.0% against the US dollar.
Calculated at December 2022 prices, the export of machinery and transport equipment lessened by 13%, their import declined by 7.5%. The volume of export of the commodity group of electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, n.e.s., decreased by more than one-tenth, its import slightly lessened. The export volume of the commodity group of road vehicles increased by a few percentage points, while its import volume lessened by nearly one-tenth compared to the base period. The export turnover of the commodity group of telecommunication and sound recording and reproducing apparatus declined by more than one-tenth, while its import volume grew by nearly one-tenth compared to the same period of the previous year. The turnover of the power generating machinery and equipment commodity group declined by one-sixth on the export side, its import volume slightly decreased compared to the December 2022 level. The aggregate commodity group of machinery and transport equipment contributed to the overall volume reduction in total turnover by 7.3 percentage points on the export side and by 3.4 percentage points on the import one.
The export volume of manufactured goods became 6.1% lower, their import volume decreased by 5.6%. The volume reduction was impacted by the turnover of professional, scientific and controlling instruments in export and miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s. in import. The aggregate commodity group of manufactured goods increased the overall volume reduction observed in both directions in export by 1.7 percentage points and escalated it on the import side by 1.9 percentage points.
The export volume of fuels and electric energy increased by 26%, their import volume was 57% higher thanone year earlier. The turnover growth can be explained by the significant increase in petroleum, petroleum products on the export side and in natural and manufactured gas on the import side. The turnover growth in fuels and electric energy offset the pace of the total volume decrease by 0.9 percentage points on the export side and by 7.0 percentage points on the import side.
The export volume of food, beverages and tobacco became 5.0% higher, while their import volume decreased by 14%. The volume change was mainly driven by cereals and cereal preparations both on export and import side. The volume change realised by the aggregate commodity group moderated the total export turnover decrease by 0.4 percentage points and raised the import decline rate by 0.9 percentage points.
The volume of export to the EU-27 Member States became 9.0% lower and that of import from there lessened by 7.7%. The balance of the external trade in goods improved by EUR 80 million, generating a surplus of EUR 774 million. This group of countries accounted for 75% of exports and 66% of imports.
In the extra-EU-27 trade, the volume of export decreased by 6.4%, while that of import grew by 14%. The balance of the external trade in goods with these countries declined by EUR 53 million, showing a deficit of EUR 1.0 billion.
In January–December 2023:
The value of exports amounted to EUR 149.2 billion (HUF 57.0 thousand billion), that of imports to EUR 140.0 billion (HUF 53.5 thousand billion).
In January–December 2023 compared to a year earlier:
The volume of export rose by 2.5%, while that of import lessened by 3.5%.
The balance of the external trade in goods improved by EUR 18.3 billion, the surplus amounted to EUR 9.2 billion.
The HUF price level of the external trade in goods was down by 0.3% in exports, and declined by 6.6% in imports compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. The terms of trade improved by 6.7%. The HUF strengthened by 2.4% against the EUR and by 5.3% against the US dollar.
External trade in goods, January–December 2023
| Denomination | Export | Import | Balance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| value, at current prices | same period of the previous year=100.0% | value, at current prices | same period of the previous year=100.0% | value, at current prices | in the same period of the previous year | |
| Billion HUF | 56 958 | 102.2 | 53 480 | 90.1 | 3 478 | 7 074 |
| Million EUR | 149 189 | 104.7 | 140 015 | 92.3 | 9 173 | 18 307 |