According to the latest flash report of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), in October 2012 the volume of exports and imports was up by 5.2 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively, in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year. In the tenth month of the year foreign trade posted a surplus of 182bn HUF (646 million EUR).

In January-October 2012 foreign trade surplus totalled 1 760bn HUF (6 077 million EUR) which is 92bn HUF (11 million EUR) more than it was in the initial ten months of last year. In the same period exports and imports improved by 2.4 percent and 1.0 percent compared to last year’s figure.

Analyzing commodity groups it can be observed that in the initial ten months of the year the foreign trade of manufacturing industry products increased significantly: the volume of exports and imports was higher by 8.1 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively, compared to the level one year ago. Within commodity groups, exports of pharmaceutical and medical products, scientific and controlling instruments and apparatus, rubber manufactures and organic chemicals expanded outstandingly. Exports regarding food, beverages and tobacco products increased by 7.4 percent, while imports were down by 5.6 percent. The import volume of electric energy and fuels was down by 5.2 percent, whereas performance regarding machinery and transport equipment was below average, as their exports decreased by 2.1 percent and imports were up by 1.1 percent in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year. The decline of overall exports was to a large extent attributable to the weaker export volume of telecommunications, sound-recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment, on the other hand the exports of power generating machinery and equipment, office machines and automatic data-processing machines increased dynamically.

The volume of exports and imports to and from EU member countries, which constitutes almost the three-quarters of total foreign trade, was higher by 2.3 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, in January-October 2012 in comparison to the same period of last year. The trade surplus vis-á-vis these countries amounted to 2 306bn HUF in the initial ten months of the year.

Foreign trade deficit with non-EU countries moderated to 546bn HUF, by 171bn HUF. The volume of exports to these countries was up by 2.4 percent, while that of imports decreased by 4 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.

(Ministry for National Economy)