Volume of exports 8 percent up
After correction for the number of working days, the volume of exports of goods in January was 8 percent up on January 2006. The volume of imports of goods grew by more than 7 percent, relative to one year previously. The favourable pattern of working days and public holidays marginally pushed up foreign trade. Import and export prices hardly differed from the same month last year.
In January 2007, the value of exported goods totalled 26.9 billion euro, a 9 percent increase on one year previously. The value of imported goods totalled 24.3 billion euro. This is a 8 percent increase on January 2006. The trade surplus mounted to 2.6 billion euro; half a billion euro up on January 2006. The value of exports to non-EU countries rose substantially. Imports revealed an opposite trend as the value of trade with EU-member states increased considerably.
Over the whole year 2006, the value of imports grew by 14 percent to 284.8 billion euro. The value of exports of goods rose by 13 percent in 2006 and reached a record high of 318 billion euro. This resulted in a trade surplus in 2006 of an unprecedented 33,2 billion euro. After correction for working days and price changes, the volume of imports and the volume of exports increased by 10 and 9 percent respectively, compared to 2005.
