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Hungary Retail Trade Picks Up

Hungary’s trade surplus increased to  €1.3 billion in 2016.
Hungary’s trade surplus increased to  €1.3 billion in 2016.

Hungary’s retail sales were up 4.7% in January, compared to the same month a year earlier, according to a first release of data published Friday by the Central Statistical Office (KSH).

Retail sales in Hungarian stores were up by 4.7% according to raw data and by 3.7% when adjusted for calendar effects, data published by KSH shows, Budapest Business Journal reported on March 3.

The volume of sales, adjusted for calendar effects, rose by 3.2% in specialized and non-specialized food shops, by 3.7% in non-food retail shops and by 6.4% in automotive fuel retailing, according to KSH.

Meanwhile Hungary’s surplus on the trade balance increased by €1.3 billion and amounted to €9.9 billion in 2016 as a whole, compared to the year before.

As far as the whole year is concerned the value of exports amounted to €93 billion and that of imports to € 83.1 billion. The volume of exports was up by 4.4% and that of imports by 4.7%, compared to 2015.

The forint price level of external trade in goods decreased by 1% in exports and by 2.5% in imports, according to the KSH data. The terms of trade improved by 1.5%. The forint exchange rate depreciated by 0.5% against the euro and by 0.7% against the dollar.

In December 2016, the export volume increased by 8% and the import volume by 7.7%, and the surplus decreased by €58 million compared to the same month of the previous year.

During the same month, the value of exports amounted to €7.3 billion, that of imports to €6.7 billion and the external trade surplus was €579 million.

 

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