Moldova’s exports of goods in the first half of 2016 decreased by 8.8% compared with the corresponding period last year, totaling US$905.4 million. Exports to Cyprus, Kazakhstan and Sweden declined the most, IPN reports, quoting the National Bureau of Statistics.

In January-June 2016, exports to the EU member states came to US$573.6 million, a decrease of 8.3% on the same period last year. These exports represented 63.4% of the exports.

Moldova’s exports to the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) represented 20.7% of the exports, amounting to US$ 187.7 million, a decline of 22.3% on the first half of last year.

Exports to Cyprus fell by 80%, to Kazakhstan – by 76%, to Sweden – by 75%, to Latvia – by 66%, to Spain – by 49% to the Netherlands – by 42%, while to Uzbekistan – by 41%.

Exports to Egypt rose 8.1 times, to Iraq – 3.6 times, to Jordan – 5.2 times, to Israel – 3.1 times, to Macedonia – 2.7 times, to Iran – 2.6 times, to Malaysia – 2.5 times, to Bulgaria – 2.2 times, to China – 1.9 times, offsetting slightly the decrease in the total exports.

Imports in the period came to over US$1.8 billion, a 5.9% decline on 2015. Imports from the EU member states amounted to US$922.8 million, a 4.1% decline on January-June 2015, while from the CIS states – to US$472.6 million, down 6.8%.

The considerable discrepancy between imports and exports in the first half of this year led to the accumulation of a balance-of-trade deficit of US$963.6 million, which was yet lower by US$29.1 on 2015.