Exports up 18.7% y/y in December 2019
In December 2019, exports increased 18.7% y/y to US$ 390.4mn and imports were up 12.8% y/y to US$ 927.0mn. As a result, the trade deficit increased by 8.9% y/y to US$ 536.7mn, according to Geostat.
In December 2019, cars (+75.4% y/y), copper (+15.6% y/y), ferro-alloys (+23.4% y/y), wine (+11.9% y/y) and spirits (+54.0% y/y) were the top 5 exported commodities. A 18.8% of exports was directed to the EU (+2.4% y/y), 53.3% to the CIS (+11.7% y/y) and 27.9% to other countries (+53.3% y/y).
In December 2019, petroleum (+2.5% y/y), cars (+7.6% y/y), copper (+224.9% y/y), gases (+26.5% y/y) and pharmaceuticals (+8.5% y/y) represented the top 5 imported commodities.
Overall, in 2019, the trade deficit was down 8.5% y/y to US$ 5.3bn as exports were up 12.4% y/y to US$ 3.8bn and imports were down 0.8% y/y to US$ 9.1bn.
Producer price index up 7.8% y/y in December 2019
Annual PPI for industrial goods retreated to 7.8% in December 2019 from 8.5% in previous month, according to Geostat. Rising prices in manufacturing (+8.0% y/y) and products from mining and quarrying (+17.3% y/y) contributed the most to the overall index change.
