Exports continue to do well

In October the volume of goods exports was more than 8 percent higher than in October 2006. This is after adjusting for the working day effects. The growth rate is in line with the average growth of the export volume in the first nine months of 2007. The volume of imports increased by 1 percent in October. This is much lower than in the first nine months, when imports increased by an average of almost 7 percent.

Import prices were up by 3 percent while export prices went up by 2 percent on October 2006. This is partly due to the high prices of oil and oil products.

Imports and exports reached record high values in October. Both were up by a staggering 1.4 billion euro on last March, the previous record high. The value of exports was 32.0 billion euro, which is 14 percent more than in October 2006. Imports were up by 7 percent, reaching 27.6 billion euro. This led to a trade surplus of 4.4 billion euro, which is 1.9 billion higher than in October 2006, but slightly below the record trade surplus of March this year.

The value of imports from EU countries up by 13 percent, imports from non-EU countries by just 1 percent. The Netherlands imported mostly more chemical products and food.

The exports to non-EU countries rose by 18 percent. Exports to EU countries by 12 percent. The export value of food, chemical products, machinery and means of transport saw above average increases.

Goods exports (volume)