Similarly to the industrial sector, the Hungarian foreign trade sector also posted massive volume increases in June 2015: the volume of exports and imports was up by 14.1 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively, year-on-year. Thus, the country’s foreign trade surplus exceeded EUR 800 million and reached EUR 4.2bn in the first half of the year. This is EUR 981 million higher than the figure of one year ago. According to Minister of State for Economic Regulation Béla Glattfelder, the Hungarian economy may record the highest ever foreign trade surplus this year.

In June 2015, the value of exports and imports was EUR 8.1bn and EUR 7.3bn, respectively, and thus the foreign trade sector’s surplus totalled EUR 801 million. As far as data from the first half of the year are concerned, the value of exports and imports was some EUR 45bn and EUR 41bn, therefore surplus reached EUR 4.2bn, about EUR 1bn higher than one year ago. The first half of the year was characterized by the dynamic growth of the motor vehicle manufacturing (+23.3 percent) and related sectors, while in the month of March output was fuelled by demand for the new Suzuki model. Thanks to these factors, almost half of export growth was attributable to road vehicle manufacturing sub sectors. However, the pharmaceuticals sector also saw significant growth (+22.7 percent), and this trend is expected to continue in coming months. Foreign trade surplus growth was also the result of lower gas demand due to a mild winter (-40.2 percent) and cheaper crude oil imports thanks to lower market prices (-26.6 percent).

As a whole, the Ministry is expecting favourable export processes to continue for the remainder of the year, and the foreign trade sector is anticipated to be a large contributor to Hungarian economic growth in 2015.

(Ministry for National Economy)