Exports maintain higher growth rate than imports at 11 months. Trade deficit rose to 5.3 bn euro

Romania’s exports increased by 6.5 percent year-on-year between January and November 2014, while imports had a lower growth rate of 6 percent, leading to a trade deficit of 5.3 billion euro, higher by 97.1 million euro compared to the previous year, announces the National Institute of Statistics (INSSE).

According to the preliminary estimations corresponding to the first 11 months last year, the value of exports totaled 48.7 billion euro (216.3 billion lei) after growth by 7.1 percent in lei-denominated currency and by 6.5 percent, respectively, given the amounts expressed in euro. Imports increased by 6.6 percent in lei-denominated currency (6 percent, in euro currency) coming to nearly 54 billion euro (239.8 billion lei).

In November 2014, compared to the same month in 2013, exports level rose by 2.5 percent in lei-denominated currency (2.9 percent in euro currency), whilst the value of imports advanced by 3.5 percent (3.9 percent, based on the amounts in euro). A decline was recorded, though, compared with the amounts recorded in October 2014, in November both exports and imports seeing decreases: exports dropped by 5.4 percent (5.6 percent in euro-denominated currency) and imports fell by 7 percent (7.2 percent considering the values expressed in euro currency).

Intra-community trade (Intra EU28) in the first 11 months of 2014 accounted for 71.2 percent of the total exports, deliveries amounting to about 34.6 billion euro (153.9 billion lei) and represented 75.3 percent of the total imports whose cumulated value added up to approximately 40.6 billion euro (180.5 billion lei). The extra-community trade had a smaller share in exports and imports – deliveries represented 28.8 percent of the total exports and the arrivals, 24.7 percent of the imports.