Romania’s trade gap widens by 21% yoy in Jan-Sep 2019

Romania’s imports rose by 5.1% in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period last year (year-on-year), more than twice as fast as the exports that edged up by only 2.0% year-on-year, according to data from the statistics office INS.

In September alone, the exports increased by 4.4% year-on-year, to EUR 6.1 bln, while imports rose by 7.0%, to EUR 7.3 bln.

Consequently, the trade deficit has widened by 21% year-on-year to EUR 12.0 billion in January-September (+22%, to EUR 1.2 bln, in September alone), meaning that the Romanians have used, mainly for consumption, the equivalent of 5.5% of the entire Gross Domestic Product expected for the whole year.

Romania’s trade gap widened in 2018 by 17% year-on-year, which was the slowest expansion rate in recent years, since the massive 38% surge triggered in 2015 by the beginning of the fiscal stimulus and the cut in the VAT rate for food items that set the ground for consumption-led (yet possibly unsustainable) growth.

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