The volume of national exports of goods and services would have increased by 23.9% in the first quarter of 2023 (Q1-2023) in annual variation, supported by the good performance of travel services, according to the High Commission for Planning (HCP).
In value, the increase in exports of goods would have reached 7.9% in annual variation, mainly reflecting a positive export price effect and relatively more resilient external demand, particularly for the automotive sector, explains the HCP which comes to publish its Economic Update for the first quarter of 2023 and the outlook for the second quarter.
Automotive shipments would have been supported by sales in the construction and wiring segments, in line with the recovery of the automotive market in the euro zone, favored, among other things, by the easing of pressures on supply chains. and greater availability of inputs, says the same source.
External sales of electrical and electronic products, followed by those of the textile and leather industry would also have contributed positively to the increase in overall exports. Conversely, shipments of phosphates and their derivatives, in particular natural and chemical fertilizers and phosphoric acid, would have declined, penalized by a drop in foreign demand addressed to them.
Imports of goods in value would, for their part, have appreciated by 11.6% in annual variation, underpinned by the rise, although less sustained, of the energy bill, indicates the HCP, noting that the latter would have been fueled by purchases of diesel and fuel oil, petroleum gas and other hydrocarbons.
Excluding energy, imports would have been driven by acquisitions of industrial capital goods and, to a lesser extent, by those of food goods such as corn, dairy products and sugar and consumer goods, in particular passenger cars and their spare parts.
The more significant increase in imports, in value, compared to exports would have accentuated the deficit in the trade balance of goods and led to a decline in the coverage rate of 2 points, compared to the same period of 2022, to reach 58.4 % in the first quarter of 2023, estimates the HCP.