Trade deficit up 45% to 15 billion euros

Romania’s trade deficit (the difference between exports and imports) last year approached 14.9 billion euros, up 45% against 2005, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INS). The trade deficit therefore sets a new record, having hit all-time highs in each of the past 4-5 years. Last year, exports stood at 25.85 billion euros, up 16.2% against 2005, and imports exceeded 40.7 billion euros, seeing a 25.1% rise. The higher growth trend of imports against exports is also characteristic of the last few years, amid an increase in the domestic demand, both for technology and for goods for private consumption. Therefore, exports and imports of technological products (machinery and equipment) reached almost a quarter of the annual volume of foreign trade. In the case of exports, 2006 was the first year when sales of textiles and clothing were not on top, being instead replaced by technological products (20% of exports compared with 16% in the case of textiles).