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Foreign trade jumps 11.5 percent in January-June
Belgrade,
29 July 2005
The volume of Serbia’s foreign trade in the January to June period of 2005 was $6.78 billion, up 11.5 percent from a year earlier, the Serbian Statistics Office said yesterday. Expressed in euros, trade was worth €5.28 billion, a 6.4 percent increase from a year earlier.
Exports in January-June totalled $2.14 billion, a surge of 53.7 percent against a year earlier, while imports in the same period edged down one percent to $4.64 billion.
The decline in imports in the first half of the year was largely due to reduced aggregate spending, slower growth in real wages, monetary and credit policy measures, the launch of value added tax, privatisation, restructuring, and free trade agreements with countries who are signatories of the South East Europe Stability Pact, according to the Statistics Office’s statement.
The trade deficit from January to June stood at $2.50 billion, down 24.2 percent from a year ago. Expressed in euros, the gap was €1.95 billion, down 27.5 percent against the same period in 2004.
Exports-to-imports ratio was 46.2 percent, up from 29.8 percent a year earlier.
The most exported items were intermediate goods, accounting for two thirds of overall exports, and they were followed by consumer goods, which made up 28.4 percent of total exports.
Imports were also dominated by intermediate goods, 63.5 percent, consumer goods, 22.1 percent, and equipment, 14.4 percent of overall imports.
Major importers of Serbian goods were Italy ($334.6 million), Bosnia-Herzegovina (329.6 million), and Germany ($223.3 million).
The largest exporters to Serbia were Russia ($802.9 million), Germany ($471.4 million), and Italy ($411.9 million).
Trade with Italy in the first five months of the year was more balanced than a year earlier, while the biggest trade surplus, of $197 million, was recorded in commerce with Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Thanks to a free trade pact, Serbia also posted a surplus in trade with Macedonia, but deficit remained wide in commerce with Russia due to imports of oil and natural gas.
The decline in imports in the first half of the year was largely due to reduced aggregate spending, slower growth in real wages, monetary and credit policy measures, the launch of value added tax, privatisation, restructuring, and free trade agreements with countries who are signatories of the South East Europe Stability Pact, according to the Statistics Office’s statement.
The trade deficit from January to June stood at $2.50 billion, down 24.2 percent from a year ago. Expressed in euros, the gap was €1.95 billion, down 27.5 percent against the same period in 2004.
Exports-to-imports ratio was 46.2 percent, up from 29.8 percent a year earlier.
The most exported items were intermediate goods, accounting for two thirds of overall exports, and they were followed by consumer goods, which made up 28.4 percent of total exports.
Imports were also dominated by intermediate goods, 63.5 percent, consumer goods, 22.1 percent, and equipment, 14.4 percent of overall imports.
Major importers of Serbian goods were Italy ($334.6 million), Bosnia-Herzegovina (329.6 million), and Germany ($223.3 million).
The largest exporters to Serbia were Russia ($802.9 million), Germany ($471.4 million), and Italy ($411.9 million).
Trade with Italy in the first five months of the year was more balanced than a year earlier, while the biggest trade surplus, of $197 million, was recorded in commerce with Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Thanks to a free trade pact, Serbia also posted a surplus in trade with Macedonia, but deficit remained wide in commerce with Russia due to imports of oil and natural gas.
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