Croatia’s trade exchange with foreign countries in the first nine months of this year recorded a slight decline in exports, expressed in kuna by 0.8 percent and in euros by 2.2 percent, while imports in kuna recorded an increase of 0.4 percent, and a decrease of 0.9 percent in euros.
The coverage of imports by exports in the first nine months of this year stands at 57.7 percent, according to the preliminary data published today by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS).
From the beginning of January to the end of September this year, Croatia’s commodity exports amounted to 52.9 billion kuna, which is 0.8 percent lower than in the same period last year. At the same time, imports increased by 0.4 percent to 91.7 billion kuna.
Thus, the foreign trade deficit amounted to 38.8 billion kuna, which is 2.2 percent higher than in the nine months of last year. Expressed in euros (with an increase in the euro exchange rate of 1.4 percent), Croatia’s commodity exports in the first nine months of this year amounted to 7.04 billion euros, which represents a decrease of 2.2 percent compared to the same period last year, while imports recorded a decrease of 0.9 percent to 12.2 billion euros.
The trade deficit thus amounts to 5.1 billion euros, which is an increase of 0.8 percent compared to the nine months last year.
Data from the DZS for September alone shows that both Croatian exports and imports fell by 12.7 percent compared to September last year, with exports in the ninth month of this year amounting to 775 million euros and imports nearly 1.29 billion euros. Therefore, the trade deficit with foreign countries in September alone amounted to 520.5 million euros, which is also 12.7 percent less than in September last year.
Statistical data for the first nine months of 2012 shows a significant decline in exports in several major export activities, such as shipbuilding.
Exports in the manufacturing of other transport equipment, under which statistics include shipbuilding, amounted to 493.5 million euros from the beginning of January to the end of September this year, which is a decrease of 44.5 percent compared to the same period last year. At the same time, exports in the manufacturing of chemicals and chemical products decreased by 25.6 percent to 415.8 million euros.
In contrast, in the first nine months of this year, exports in the manufacturing of machinery and equipment increased by 7.8 percent to 505 million euros, in the manufacturing of food products by 5.4 percent to 486.5 million euros, in the manufacturing of electrical equipment by 3.8 percent to 523.2 million euros, and in the manufacturing of refined petroleum products by 3.6 percent to 854.1 million euros.
The most important trading partner of Croatia continues to be the countries of the European Union, to which goods worth more than 4 billion euros were exported in the first nine months of this year, which is 5.3 percent less than in the same period last year, while imports from the EU simultaneously increased by 1.9 percent to 7.6 billion euros.
Individually among EU member states, Croatia’s most important partners are Italy and Germany. Data from the DZS shows that by the end of September this year, Croatia exported goods worth 1.07 billion euros to Italy, which is 9.1 percent less than in the same period last year, with a simultaneous increase in imports from that country by 4.6 percent to 2.05 billion euros. Exports to Germany increased by 1.2 percent to 742.6 million euros, while imports from that country increased by 2.4 percent to 1.55 billion euros.
