Foreign trade deficit shrinks to €8.7bn in 2009

2010-02-15

The total value of Polish exports of goods in 2009 amounted to €96.3bn, while imports equalled €105bn, according to preliminary data from the Central Statistical Office (GUS). This translates into a nominal decline of 17.1% and 26.3%, respectively. As a result, the country’s foreign trade deficit narrowed by two thirds compared with the previous year, to €8.7bn.
Poland’s trade balance with developed countries, including the European Union improved markedly over the analysed period and showed a surplus of more than €10bn. There was also an improvement in the trade balance with developing countries and with the countries of Southern and Eastern Europe, although both figures remained firmly in negative territory.
Of Poland’s main trading partners, exports to Italy held up relatively the best, falling by 5%. The rate of decline in exports to Great Britain and France was also in the single digits, down by 8.4% and by 9.4%, respectively. By contrast, exports to Russia tumbled by 40.7%. Imports from South Korea showed the greatest resilience, dropping by 9.6% y-o-y, the only instance of a single-digit decline among the largest importer countries. On the other hand, imports from Russia plunged by 33.8%, and from France and Germany by over 28%.
In 2008 the trade deficit amounted to nearly €26.2bn, i.e. approximately 7.2% of GDP.