Romania 2009 Trade Gap Narrows To EUR9.74B Vs EUR23.5B

02.09.2010 ZF English

Romania’s trade deficit narrowed to EUR9.74 billion in 2009, from EUR23.51 billion a year earlier, with imports falling more rapidly than the exports, the National Statistics Institute said Tuesday.

Exports were down 13.9% on the year to EUR29.03 billion in 2009, while imports fell 32.3% to EUR38.77 billion.

Vehicles made up for the bulk of exports and imports in 2009, amounting to 42.8% of overall exports and 33.8% of the imports, data showed.

In December 2009 alone, Romania's trade gap was of EUR850 million, compared with EUR1.56 billion in the same month of 2008.

Exports were at EUR2.3 billion in December last year, up by 18.9% compared with the same month of 2008, while imports fell 9.9% on the year to EUR3.17 billion.

Exports are calculated exclusive of costs, insurance and freight fees, but imports are calculated including such costs.