A significant increase in the exports and a decrease in the imports as well as the consequent improvement in the coverage of the import by the export marked Croatia's foreign trade in the first 11 months of 2010.
Expressed in the kuna, Croatia's exports climbed 16.6 percent to HRK 59 billion in the first 11 months of 2010 year on year, which is the highest cumulative annual growth rate since October 2006. This increase follows after a substantial decrease in the exports in 2006.
In the first 11 months of 2010, the imports went down by 2.6 percent to HRK 100.3 billion.
Croatia's export/import ratio rose from 49.1 percent in the first 11 months of 2009 to 58.8 percent in the comparable period of 2010, according to figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics.
A foreign trade deficit came to HRK 41.3 billion, falling down by 21.2 percent on the year.
Expressed in the euro, Croatia's exports increased 17.8 percent to EUR 8.1 billion, while the imports in the first 11 months of 2010 went down by 1.7 percent on the year to EUR 13.8 billion.
Thus, a foreign trade deficit totalled EUR 5.7 billion, down by 20.4 percent on the year.
Exports to the European Union market accounted for 62 percent of all Croatian exports in the first 11 months of 2010. Croatia's exports to the EU climbed by 19.7 percent to EUR 5.04 billion, and imports from that market to Croatia decreased by 6.4 percent to EUR 8.2 billion.
