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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia’s foreign trade grows 13 percent in January-September 2005

Belgrade, 31 October 2005

The Serbian Statistics Office said today that total foreign trade of Serbia in the year through September amounted to $10.708 billion, rising 13 percent from a year earlier.

Expressed in euros, the volume of foreign trade stood at €8.49 billion, marking an increase of 9.7 percent against the same period in 2004.

Exports totalled $3.279 billion, surging 39.6 percent from a year earlier, while imports rose 4.3 percent to $7.429 billion.

Expressed in euros, exports jumped 35.2 percent to €2.595 billion, while imports went up 1.2 percent €5.894 billion against the same period in 2004.

The increase in imports in the first nine months of the current year was due to decreased aggregate spending mainly because of a decline in real wages and monetary and credit policy measures, as well as newly introduced value added tax (VAT).

Import of many goods planned for the beginning of the year was made in December 2004, ahead of the launch of the new tax, with a view to avoiding VAT payments by importers for the first couple of months of 2005. VAT also affected export results, because exporters are now declaring real values of their shipments in order to claim VAT refunds.

Surging exports were also driven by the initial effects of privatisation and the restructuring of companies, by signed and ratified free trade agreements with countries who are signatories of the Southeast Europe Stability Pact, by food trade surplus, as well as by ready-made textile goods trade surplus, thanks to the agreement signed with the EU.

The trade deficit in the January to September period was $4.151 billion, down 13.1 percent from the same period a year earlier. Expressed in euros, the gap narrowed by 15.5 percent to €3.299 billion.

Exports-to-imports ratio was 44.1 percent, up from 32.9 percent from a year earlier. Expressed in euros the ratio is 44 percent, up from last year’s 33 percent.

The most exported items were intermediate goods, accounting for 66.3 percent ($2.175 billion) of overall exports, followed by consumer goods, which made up 28.3 percent ($927 million) and equipment, making up 5.4 percent ($176.7 million) of total exports.

Imports were also dominated by intermediate goods, 62.1 percent ($4.611 billion), consumer goods, 22.2 percent ($1.648 billion), and equipment, 15.7 percent ($1.171 billion) of overall imports.

Major importers of Serbian goods were Bosnia-Herzegovina ($524.7 million), Italy ($487.8 million), and Germany ($337.4 million).

The largest exporters to Serbia were Russia ($1.207 billion), Germany ($788.5 million), and Italy ($637.6 million).

The greatest foreign trade was recorded in commerce with the EU, at more than half of total trade. Thanks to a loan granted for import of equipment, Serbia also posted a surplus in trade with Italy, which is a more satisfactory trade ratio compared to 2004, when export was 2.5 times lower than import.

The biggest surplus was recorded in commerce with Bosnia-Herzegovina, $319 million. Thanks to the free trade agreement, as well as the competitiveness of Serbian products, a surplus has also been achieved in commerce with Macedonia, but deficit remained wide in commerce with Russia, due to energy imports, mainly oil and natural gas.