Surplus on external trade in goods amounts to EUR 876 million in March, adjusted volume of exports diminishes by 0.4% and that of imports increases by 1.7% compared to February
In March 2021, the volume of exports rose by 23% and that of imports by 16% compared to the same period of the previous year. The surplus was EUR 876 million, the balance improved by EUR 548 million compared to March 2020. Compared to February, the seasonally and working-day adjusted volume of exports diminished by 0.4% and that of imports increased by 1.7%.
In March 2021:
The value of exports amounted to EUR 11.1 billion (HUF 4,038 billion) and that of imports to EUR 10.2 billion (HUF 3,716 billion).
In March 2021 compared to a year earlier:
The value of exports was up by 23% and that of imports by 17% in EUR terms.
According to calendar-adjusted data, the volume of exports became 23% and that of imports 17% larger.
The balance of external trade in goods improved by EUR 548 million. (The surplus was EUR 137 million lower than that published in the first estimate.)
The forint (HUF) price level of external trade in goods rose by 6.0% in exports and by 7.2% in imports compared to the same month of the previous year. The terms of trade deteriorated by 1.1%. The forint exchange rate weakened by 5.9% against the euro and strengthened by 1.6% against the dollar.
Calculated at prices in March 2020, the exports of machinery and transport equipment grew by 35% and their imports by 24%. The exports of road vehicles increased by nearly a half and their imports by almost one-third compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. The exports of electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, n.e.s.1, were up by more than one-third and their imports by more than one-fifth. The growth of trade was also highly influenced by the commodity group of telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment, which expanded by more than one-fourth in exports and by more than one-fifth in imports compared to the same period of the previous year. The exports of office machines and automatic data processing equipment went up slightly and their imports by nearly one-fifth. The exports of power-generating machinery and equipment grew by more than one-third and their imports by nearly one-third compared to March 2020. Out of all main groups of commodities, the main contributor to the change in the volume of total trade was machinery and transport equipment, with 20 percentage points in the case of exports and with 12 percentage points in the case of imports.
The export volume of manufactured goods became 12% and their import volume 14% larger. The growth of trade was dominantly due to changes in the exports of miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s., and in the imports of manufactures of metals, n.e.s. Manufactured goods increased the total change in volume by 5.2 percentage points in imports and by 3.5 percentage points in exports.
The export volume of fuels and electric energy became 15% and their import volume 5.1% lower than in the same period of the previous year. The decrease in the volume of both exports and imports was due to changes in trade in petroleum, petroleum products and related materials, in addition, the reduction in the volume of exports can be explained by changes in trade in natural and manufactured gas, and the decrease in the volume of imports by changes in trade in coal, coke and briquettes. Fuels and electric energy decreased the rate of increase of total trade by 0.3 percentage point on both sides.
The volume of exports of food, beverages and tobacco grew by 2.3%, while the volume of their imports declined by 1.9%. The main contributor to the changes in both exports and imports was the commodity group of meat and meat preparations. In addition, the increase on the export side was influenced by changes in trade in feeding stuff for animals as well as cereals and cereals preparations, while the reduction on the import side by changes in trade in vegetables and fruits. The change in volume realised by the total main group of commodities contributed by 0.2 percentage point to the growth of total exports and lowered that of total imports by 0.1 percentage point.
The volume of exports to EU-27 Member States became 23% and the volume of imports from there 14% higher. The surplus on external trade in goods increased by EUR 635 million and amounted to EUR 1.1 billion. These countries accounted for 77% of exports and 72% of imports.
In extra-EU-27 trade, the volume of exports became 22% and that of imports 23% higher. The balance of external trade in goods with this group of countries deteriorated by EUR 87 million and showed a deficit of EUR 231 million.
In January–March 2021:
The value of exports amounted to EUR 29.6 billion (HUF 10.7 thousand billion) and that of imports to EUR 27 billion (HUF 9.7 thousand billion).
In January–March 2021 compared to a year earlier:
The volume of exports rose by 7.6% and that of imports by 5.2%.
The surplus on the balance of external trade in goods increased by EUR 729 million and amounted to EUR 2.6 billion.
The forint price level of external trade in goods was up by 5.5% in both imports and exports compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. The terms of trade were unchanged. The forint depreciated by 6.5% against the euro and strengthened by 2.5% against the dollar.
External trade in goods, January–March 2021
| Denomination | Exports | Imports | Balance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| value, at current prices | same period of previous year=100.0% | value, at current prices | same period of previous year=100.0% | value, at current prices | in same period of previous year | |
| Billion HUF | 10 666 | 113.5 | 9 734 | 111.0 | 932 | 631 |
| Million EUR | 29 563 | 106.3 | 26 983 | 103.9 | 2 580 | 1 851 |