Romania’s export growth cools down, imports decline in August

Romania’s exports gained only 0.9% in August 2014, compared to the same month last year, after showing robust growth in the first seven months. Imports were down by 3.9% compared to August 2013, showing the first monthly decline in one year, data released by the National Statistics Institute (INS) show. The value of exports in August was EUR 3.86 billion, while the value of imports was EUR 4.32 billion. The commercial deficit was EUR 441 million, down by a third compared to August 2013. For the first eight months of the year, exports had a 6.7% growth rate, to EUR 34,2 billion, while imports increased by 6.1%, to almost EUR 38 billion. The overall commercial deficit was almost unchanged, at EUR 3.8 billion. Transport equipment and vehicles have the highest share in Romania’s foreign trade, representing 42% of the country’s exports and 35% of its imports. Food, beverages and tobacco is the second most important category and stands for 8.1% of the exports and 13.8% of total imports, according to data for the first eight months of this year. editor@romania-insider.com