External Trade Surplus in Goods: EUR 1.1 Bn

The volume of Hungarian exports increased by 3.9% in May 2023, while that of the country's imports decreased by 1.3% compared to the same period of the previous year. The surplus was EUR 1.1 billion, the balance improved by EUR 1.4 billion year-on-year, the Central Statistical Office reported on Monday.

Compared to April, the seasonally and working-day adjusted volume of export increased by 4.0% and that of import grew by 0.3%.

In May 2023:
The value of export amounted to EUR 13.0 billion (HUF 4,859 billion), that of imports to EUR 11.9 billion (HUF 4,441 billion).

In May 2023 compared to a year earlier:
The value of exports increased by 6.2%, while that of imports decreased by 4.8% in EUR terms.

According to calendar-adjusted data, the volume of exports grew by 6.6% and that of imports increased by 0.3%.

The balance of the external trade in goods improved by EUR 1.4 billion. (The balance is EUR 40 million higher than the one published in the first estimate.)

The HUF price level of the external trade in goods rose by 0.1% in exports and was down by 5.2% in imports compared to the same month of the previous year. The terms of trade improved by 5.6%. The HUF exchange rate strengthened by 3.1% against the EUR and by 5.7% against the US dollar.

Calculated at May 2022 prices, the export of machinery and transport equipment grew by 9.1%, their import did not change. The export volume of the commodity group of road vehicles grew by nearly one-fourth, its import volume slightly increased compared to the corresponding period of the previous year’s level. The volume of export and import of the commodity group of electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, n.e.s., grew by a few percent. The export volume of power generating machinery and equipment hardly changed, while their import volume grew by more than one-fourth. The export of the commodity group of general industrial machinery and equipment, n.e.s., slightly increased, its import did not change compared to the same period of the previous year. The aggregate commodity group of machinery and transport equipment contributed to the volume growth in total exports by 4.9 percentage points while it did not affect total imports.

The export volume of manufactured goods became 2.9% lower, their import volume lessened by 5.9%. Trade in iron and steel and miscellaneous manufactured articles n.e.s. impacted both the export and import volume reductions, in addition, on the export side the rubber manufactures and on the import side the professional, scientic and controlling instruments turnover was also decisive. The aggregate commodity group of manufactured goods moderated by 0.9 percentage points to the volume growth in total exports and contributed to the volume decline on the total import side by 2.3 percentage points.

The export volume of fuels and electric energy increased by 21%, their import volume was 14% higher than in the same period of the previous year. The growth may be explained by the significant volume increase of petroleum and petroleum products in exports and natural and manufactured gas in imports. Fuels and electric energy increased the rate of change by 0.9 percentage point on the export side and in imports it moderated by 1.8 percentage point.

The volume of export of food, beverages and tobacco became 9.3% lower, that of their import decreased by 2.3%. The reduction in each direction was mainly driven by cereals and cereal preparations. The volume reduction realized by the aggregate commodity group declined total exports by 0.7 percentage points and deepened the decrease of total imports by 0.1 percentage points.