Romania’s Trade Deficit Increases by EUR 1.5 Billion in January, February 2022

Romania’s trade deficit grew by EUR 1.5 billion in the first two months of this year compared to 2021. As a result, the gap between imports and exports increased to EUR 4.58 billion, according to the National Institute of Statistics.

Data from the National Institute of Statistics show that in February 2022, exports climbed by 22% to EUR 7.05 billion in February 2021, while imports increased by 24% to EUR 9.5 billion.
In February 2022, the trade deficit was EUR 4.58 billion, up to EUR 1.5 billion from February 2021.

Imports of transportation machinery and equipment accounted for a third of all imports and 43% of total exports. Other manufactured products (iron, steel, rubber, metal, clothes, or footwear) account for around 29% of imports and 31% of exports. Romania’s exports to EU countries account for 72% of total exports and 70% of imports.

Extra-EU27 goods commerce was worth EUR 3.79 billion in exports and EUR 5.41 billion in imports in the same period, accounting for 27.5% of total exports and 29.4% of total imports.

Romania still imports more than it exports, and this isn’t going to help the economy survive the challenging economic times the country goes through. Immediate measures are needed to encourage the exports. Still, with a National Bank that prefers to constantly increase the key interest rate instead of letting the main foreign currencies grow, there is little room for other measures to help the country decrease its trade deficit.