Romania’s trade deficit reaches over EUR 1 bln per month in 2017

Romania’s trade deficit went up by 29% in the first 11 months of 2017 compared to the same period of 2016, reaching EUR 11.34 billion. This means that Romania’s imports were higher than the exports by an average EUR 1 billion in 2017. The total imports reached EUR 69.5 billion, up 12.3% year on year, while the exports totaled EUR 58.15 billion, up by 9.5%. In November, the exports reached a new high of EUR 5.79 billion while the imports stood at EUR 6.91 billion, slightly lower than in the previous months. The deficit was thus EUR 1.12 billion, lower than in October. Romania’s widening trade deficit this year was mainly due to the Extra-EU trade. Imports from outside the EU rose by 19.4% in the first 11 months of 2017 while the exports increased by only 7.1%. Thus, extra-EU trade deficit almost tripled to EUR 2.8 billion. Meanwhile, the intra-EU trade deficit only went up by about 10%, in line with the increase in exports and imports. editor@romania-insider.com