Food imports resume growth to half of domestic consumption, exports drop. Agriculture programs subsidizing is not felt in the market

Romania’s exports amounted to EUR 23 billion in the first three months of the year, 3.7% less than in Q1/2023, while imports fell by 2.3%, to EUR 29.65 billion. However, the general trade balance deficit decreased by 1.5% against the same period of last year, to EUR 6.7 billion.

One of the chapters where we register a significant deficit is the import of food products and livestock – a deficit also fueled by the unusual increase in consumption, which recorded the biggest quarterly stride in Q1 since the end of the pandemic.

Concerning the graph below – where we present the evolution of food imports, it must be specified that this deficit is seasonally reduced during the summer months due to grain and oilseeds exports and conversely increased during the winter holidays, especially in the case of meat. Imports of agro-food goods came to represent approximately 10% of total imports in Q1/2023.

Food imports reached half of domestic consumption

The increase in private consumption is accompanied by an increase in trade deficit.

Practically, half of the domestic consumption ended up being covered by imports. And the trend of the last months points to a deepening of the deficit, despite the subsidies the state gives to farmers for various crops through programs like “Tomato”, “Garlic” and others.

“During the interval 1/01/2024 – 31/03/2024, the following products groups held significant shares in the structure of exports and imports: vehicles and transport equipment (47.7% of export and 36.2% of import), and other manufactured products (29.2% of export and 27.9% of import)” shows the INSSE press release.

The value of intra-EU27 goods trade in the interval 1/01-31/03/2024 stood at EUR 16.8405 billion in terms of exports and EUR 21.9373 billion in the case of imports, representing 73.4% of total exports and 74.0% of total imports, respectively. The value of extra-EU27 goods trade in the interval 1/01-31/03/2024 stood at EUR 6.1056 billion in terms of exports and EUR 7.7078 billion in the case of imports, representing 26.6% of total exports and 26.0% of total imports, respectively.

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