External Trade - January 2014

In January 2014, according to preliminary data of ‘national concept’, the trade balance ended in a surplus of CZK 15.5 bn, which was an improvement of CZK 12.9 bn, year−on−year (y−o−y).

Year−on−year, total balance in national concept was favourably influenced by an increase in surplus in 'machinery and transport equipment' (by CZK 9.0 bn) due to an increment in surplus in ‘road vehicles’ (by CZK 8.3 bn) and an improvement in balance in ‘office machines, automatic data-processing machines’ (by CZK 2.1 bn) as a deficit turned into a surplus. Surplus rose also in ‘manufactured goods classified chiefly by material’ (by CZK 1.3 bn) and deficit shrank in ‘mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials’ (by CZK 1.7 bn). On the other hand, deficit rose in ‘chemicals and related products’ (by CZK 0.7 bn).

The trade balance with EU28 Member States ended in a surplus of CZK 56.4 bn, which was by CZK 13.9 bn higher, y−o−y. Deficit of trade with non-EU countries increased by CZK 1.1 bn to amount to CZK 39.9 bn.

In January, national concept exports grew by 17.8% (to CZK 253.7 bn) and imports by 12.0% (to CZK 238.2 bn), y−o−y.

Detailed information on external trade in national concept is available on website: /csu/czso/vzonu_ts. Preliminary data are based on the cross-border trade of residents and estimates of internal trade between residents and non-residents. These estimates will be updated next month.

National concept of external trade reflects export and import performance of the Czech economy, e. i. the external trade balance of the Czech Republic as well. It measures real trade in goods carried out between the Czech and foreign entities, e. i. a change of ownership between residents and non-residents. On the other hand, cross-border concept of external trade reflects only physical movements of goods across the border regardless of whether the trade between the Czech and foreign entities occurs. These data are internationally comparable and can be used as indicators of development of value of the trade.

In January 2014, according to preliminary data of ‘cross-border concept’, exports and imports grew by 17.1% and 13.5% respectively, y−o−y.

Month-on-month, seasonally adjusted exports in ‘cross-border concept’ rose by 1.6% while imports fell by 1.9%. The development trend shows growing exports (+2.2%) and imports (+1.2%).

Y-o-y, due to depreciation of the koruna against euro and US dollar, exports and imports in terms of euro grew by 8.9% and 5.5% respectively. In terms of US dollars exports and imports increased by 11.6% and 8.1% respectively.

Total exports of goods in ‘cross-border concept’ (goods leaving the Czech Republic territory) amounted to value of CZK 289.6 bn and total imports in ‘cross-border concept’ (goods entering the Czech Republic territory) reached CZK 245.0 bn.

Total 'machinery and transport equipment' exports and imports grew by 19.7% (CZK +26.4 bn) and 22.6% (CZK 18.5 bn) respectively, y−o−y. Exports and imports grew mainly in ‘road vehicles’ (CZK +12.7 bn and CZK +4.2 bn respectively), ‘electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances’ (CZK +4.4 bn and CZK +4.7 bn respectively) and ‘telecommunications and sound-recording equipment’ (CZK +2.6 bn and CZK +3.7 bn respectively). ‘Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials’ imports fell by 7.9% (CZK −2.1 bn), y−o−y. Imports decreased mainly in crude petroleum (by −10.0% in value and by −12.2% in volume) and natural gas (both by −18.9% in value and volume).

Detailed information on external trade in ‘cross-border concept’ is available on website: /csu/czso/vzoph_ts.


Notes:
Exports and imports in ‘national concept’ are derived from adjustments of data on movement of goods across the border (‘cross-border concept’). Goods which are moved in/from the territory of the Czech Republic by foreign entities are excluded and, on the other hand goods traded between the Czech and foreign entities on the territory of the Czech Republic are taken into account. Table 5 on website: /csu/czso/vzonu_ts shows this adjustment.
The both concepts of external trade include the value of goods sent for inward or outward processing. Goods sent for processing are going to be excluded from the value of exports and imports in the balance of payments and in the national accounts according to ESA and BPM6 since September 2014.
The data in national concept are used as an input data source for the balance of the payments and the national accounts.
The published data are based on data obtained of 97.1% of companies (for goods dispatched) and 97.1% of companies (for goods arrived) obliged to report to the Intrastat system. Data for companies that failed to report (non-response) have been imputed according to dispatches and arrivals that these companies reported in the previous periods. Data for companies exempted from the reporting duty were estimated on the basis of the data given in the VAT return forms. The VAT data which are not available are extrapolated on the basis of the values in previous periods.
The data for individual months of 2013 and 2014 are preliminary. All data are processed from basic reporting units and subsequently rounded .
Detailed methodology information is available on website of the CZSO:
National concept:
/csu/czso/external_trade_in_goods_according_to_the_change_of_ownership_-national_concept-_
Cross-border concept:
/csu/czso/external_trade_in_goods_according_to_the_movement_-cross_border_concept-_
Responsible manager of the CZSO: Ing. Marek Rojíček, Ph.D., Director of Macroeconomic Statistics Branch, phone (+420) 274 052 486, E-mail: marek.rojicek@czso.cz
Contact: Karel Král, Director of External Trade Statistics Department, phone (+420) 274 052 161, E-mail: karel.kral@czso.cz
Method of data collection: Intrastat forms and Single administrative documents.
Value Added Tax declaration forms
End of data collection: 20th working day after the end of the reference month
Documents available on the CZSO website: w-241013-14 External Trade of the Czech Republic –detailed breakdown (periodicity: monthly): /csu/czso/external-trade-of-the-czech-republic-monthly-data-july-2014-a0zl4gsicy
External Trade Database: http://apl.czso.cz/pll/stazo/STAZO.STAZO?jazyk=EN
Next News Release: March 10, 2014

This press release was not edited for language.

Published: 10.03.2014
The data are valid as of the release date of the publication.