Romania’s trade deficit (goods only) has contracted on an annual basis for the tenth month in a row in November (by 9% y/y to EUR 2.36 billion), while the deficit in the 12 months to November contracted by 14.1% y/y to EUR 28.6 billion, according to data published by the statistics office INS.

Thanks to the fast advance of nominal GDP, the trade gap to GDP ratio dropped to 9.1% from 11.9% in January – when the country’s trade deficit marked the widest value.

The gradual improvement in Romania’s trade gap through the first eleven months of 2023 follows the steep deterioration seen over the past year, particularly in 2021-2022 (amid rising commodity/energy prices).

Historically and in absolute terms, Romania’s external position still shows a wide deficit, as the figure was around 6% in 2016.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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