In November 2022, Slovakia recorded a trade-balance deficit of almost €824 million, the highest monthly deficit seen in the past decade, indicates a preliminary report published by the Statistics Office. The negative trade balance was posted despite a record level of exported machinery and transport equipment, including cars. It was mainly due to a significant increase in the value of imported natural gas and car components.
Slovakia exported goods worth €9.6 billion in November, up 11.2 percent year-on-year (y-o-y). "Although the growth rate slowed down for the third month in a row, Slovak firms haven't exported goods at such a volume in a single month for more than a decade," said the Statistics Office. Imports for the first time exceeded the threshold of €10 billion, going by 20.5 percent y-o-y to stand at €10.4 billion in November. Faster y-o-y growth in the value of imports than of exports is behind the deepening trade-balance deficit. While this reached €824 million in November 2022, it amounted to only €20.2 million in the same month of 2021.
In the first eleven months of this year, exports rose by 17.1 percent y-o-y to €94.8 billion, while imports grew by 24.3 percent to €98 billion. Slovakia's trade balance notched up a deficit of €3.2 billion, therefore. In the same period of last year, it posted a surplus of over €2.1 billion.
Source: TASR
