Serbia's trade grows over first two months of 2014

BELGRADE – Serbia’s total foreign trade in January and February of 2014 amounted to USD 5.2 billion, an increase of 9.2 percent compared to the same period last year, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (RZS) said in a release Monday.

Serbia’s exports in the first two months of 2014 totaled USD 2.19 billion, an increase of 18.2 percent against last year, while imports amounted to over three billion dollars, up 3.5 percent from last year.

The deficit was USD 8.1 billion, down 22.6 percent compared to the same period last year.

The export-import ratio was 73 percent, which is more than in the same period last year, when it stood at 63.9 percent.
In exports, Serbia's main trading partners were Italy (USD 393 million), Germany (302.3 million), Bosnia-Herzegovina (167 million), Russia (143.8 million) and Romania (94.1 million).

When it comes to imports, Serbia's main trade partners were Germany (USD 404 million), Italy (USD 333.5 million), Russia (USD 332.5 million), China (USD 237.8 million) and Poland (USD 134.8 million).

Serbia traded the most with the countries with which it has signed free trade agreements. European Union member states account for 64.6 percent of Serbia’s total trade.

The second biggest partner was CEFTA countries, with which Serbia had a trade surplus of USD 224.9 million.

Serbia's exports to CEFTA countries amounted to USD 348.6 million dollars and imports from these countries totaled USD 123.7 million. The export-import ratio here was 281.8 percent.

Over the first two months of 2014, Serbia's exports to CEFTA countries consisted mainly of agricultural products (grains and products made from them and various types of beverages) and...