External Trade of the Czech Republic

Commentary

Contents

According to preliminary data, seasonally adjusted exports decreased by 1.4% and imports dropped by 0.1% month-on-month. The trend component in exports remained at the same level as in the previous month, while the trend component in imports rose by 0.7%.

Year-on-year, exports and imports at current prices were up by 19.7% and 16.8%, respectively. Due to appreciation of the Czech koruna against the euro and especially against the US dollar, external trade grew faster in euros (exports +21.9%, imports +18.9%) and in US dollars (exports +34.3%, imports +31.0%) than in Czech korunas.

The trade balance reached a surplus of CZK 3.0 billion, which was an improvement of CZK 4.4 billion in comparison to April 2006. That was the first April trade balance surplus since 1994.

The trade balance with EU27 states was active by CZK 27.9 billion and with non-EU27 states passive by CZK 24.9 billion. The balance was positively influenced by the results of trade in ‘machinery and transport equipment’ (surplus up by CZK 4.5 billion), ’mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials’ (deficit down by CZK 1.9 billion), ‘crude materials, inedible, except fuels’ (deficit turned into a surplus, improvement by CZK 1.6 billion) and ‘beverages and tobacco’ (deficit turned into a surplus, improvement by CZK 1.4 billion). Among negative effects on the balance were trade in ’manufactured goods classified chiefly by material’ (a CZK 1.4 billion surplus turned into a deficit of CZK 1.4 billion), ‘chemicals and related products’ (deficit up by CZK 0.9 billion) and ’food and live animals’ (deficit up by CZK 0.9 billion).

Exports of ‘machinery and transport equipment’ grew by 21.3% (CZK +18.1 billion). This increase is the most attributable to exports of ‘telecommunications and sound-recording equipment’ (CZK +3.9 billion), ’road vehicles’ (CZK +2.9 billion) and ‘electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances’ (CZK +2.7 billion). Total imports of ‘machinery and transport equipment’ were up by 20.3% (CZK +13.5 billion), of which the highest growth was recorded in ‘telecommunications and sound-recording equipment’ (CZK +3.1 billion), ‘automatic data-processing machines’ (CZK +2.7 billion) and ‘road vehicles’ (CZK +2.2 billion).
The decrease in imports of ’mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials’ by 9.8% (CZK -1.6 billion) was mainly influenced by low imports of natural gas, which fell by 42.4% in terms of value and by 40.5% in terms of volume; these imports are thus at the lowest level since September 2005. Imports of crude petroleum grew by 8.4% in terms of value and by 20.6% in terms of volume.

By group of countries, trade surplus with EU27 states rose by CZK 4.3 billion and trade deficit with non-EU27 states decreased by CZK 0.1 billion. Trade deficit with Russia decreased (by CZK 3.1 billion); trade surplus rose with Germany (by CZK 2.4 billion), Slovakia (by CZK 1.9 billion) and the United Kingdom (by CZK 0.7 billion); and balance improvements through deficit turning into surplus took place in trade with Poland (by CZK 1.2 billion), the United States (by CZK 1.0 billion) and Norway (by CZK 0.6 billion). Trade deficit grew with China (by CZK 3.7 billion), Japan (by CZK 0.6 billion) and Ireland (by CZK 0.5 billion); and trade surplus dropped with France (by CZK 0.9 billion), Austria (by CZK 0.8 billion) and Hungary (by CZK 0.7 billion).
In the twelve months to April 2007 compared with the previous twelve months, exports and imports grew by 15.5% and 14.9%, respectively. The trade balance reached a surplus of CZK 56.6 billion, which was an improvement of CZK 17.2 billion.

In particular trade balance in ‘machinery and transport equipment’ was better (surplus up by CZK 49.1 billion). Improved balance due to deficit turning into surplus was reported for trade in ‘crude materials, inedible, except fuels’ (by CZK 6.5 billion) and ‘beverages and tobacco’ (by CZK 4.0 billion). Trade balance deteriorated in ‘manufactured goods classified chiefly by material’ (surplus down by CZK 14.9 billion), ‘chemicals and related products’ (deficit up by CZK 11.1 billion), ‘food and live animals’ (deficit up by CZK 8.3 billion), ‘mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials’ (deficit up by CZK 4.2 billion) and ‘miscellaneous manufactured articles‘ (surplus down by CZK 3.9 billion).

By group of countries, trade surplus with EU27 states was higher by CZK 70.6 billion, while trade deficit with non-EU27 states increased by CZK 53.4 billion. Surplus rose in trade with Germany (by CZK 17.7 billion), Slovakia (by CZK 16.3 billion), Sweden (by CZK 10.1 billion), the United Kingdom (by CZK 5.4 billion) and Romania (by CZK 4.4 billion). Due to deficit turning into surplus, balance improved in trade with Italy (by CZK 5.9 billion) and Switzerland (by CZK 5.7 billion); and trade deficit fell with Norway (by CZK 3.9 billion) and Russia (by CZK 1.7 billion). On the other hand, trade deficit grew with China (by CZK 36.7 billion), Azerbaijan (by CZK 4.7 billion), Taiwan (by CZK 4.6 billion), Korea (by CZK 3.0 billion) and Japan (by CZK 2.8 billion). The trade balance with the United States deteriorated (by CZK 4.9 billion) as surplus turned into a deficit.

In January-April 2007 exports and imports grew by 17.4% and 16.0%, respectively. The trade surplus of CZK 37.5 billion was by CZK 13.6 billion higher year-on-year.

The CZSO has carried out the regular quarterly update. According to the updated figures, the 2006 trade surplus decreased by CZK 1.4 billion to CZK 43.0 billion and trade surplus in Q1 2007 decreased by CZK 2.4 billion to CZK 34.5 billion.

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According to the note of the Directorate General of Customs, data were received from 95.4% of the companies obliged to report to the Intrastat system.
Data on companies exempted from the reporting duty (those whose annual value of trade with the EU member states was below CZK 4 million for goods dispatched and below CZK 2 million for goods received) and data on companies that failed to report were imputed. The imputation methods are based on data that the companies supplied in the previous period and on data from tax returns.