Surplus on External Trade in Goods Up Year-on-Year

In August 2020, the volume of Hungarian exports increased by 1.5% and that of imports was unchanged compared to the same period of the previous year, the country's Central Statistical Office reports.

The surplus was EUR 272 million, the balance improved by EUR 257 million compared to August 2019. According to calendar-adjusted data, the export volume grew by 4.4% and the import volume by 3.2%. In January–August 2020, the surplus on the balance of external trade in goods amounted to EUR 2.5 billion, EUR 526 million less than a year earlier.

Calculated at prices in August 2020, the exports of machinery and transport equipment increased by 2.1% and their imports by 0.6%. The exports and imports of road vehicles slightly rose compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. The growth in exports was due to changes in trade in passenger cars and in imports to changes in trade in parts of motor vehicles.

Both the exports and imports of telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment were up by more than one-tenth compared to the corresponding period last year, which was due to changes in the exports of TV sets and in the imports of line telephone or telegraph sets and their parts, as well as of parts of apparatus for radio-broadcasting. Trade in general industrial machinery and equipment, n.e.s., slightly declined on the export side, while a similar increase was observed on the import side.

The reduction in exports was caused by changes in trade in air or vacuum pumps, while the growth in imports by changes in trade in centrifuges and lifting, handling, loading or unloading machinery. The exports of electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, n.e.s., went up by one-tenth, while their imports slightly lessened.

The growth in exports can be explained by changes in trade in electric accumulators and their parts, electrical transformers and their parts as well as insulated electric wires and cables, while the reduction in imports by changes in trade in electronic integrated circuits and microstructure. The exports of power generating machinery and equipment were more than one-tenth and their imports barely lower compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. The decrease in exports was owing to changes in trade in diesel engines and petrol engines and in imports to changes in trade in gas turbines.