July 11 (SeeNews) - Romania's January-May trade gap widened to 3.77 billion euro ($4.17 billion) from 2.56 billion euro in the same period last year, as imports grew faster than exports, the country's statistics office, INS, said on Monday.
Exports rose by an annual 4.4% to 23.24 billion euro, while imports increased 8.7% to 27 billion euro in January-May, INS said in a statement.
Machinery and transport equipment accounted for 48.1% of exports and 37.6% of imports, while other manufactured goods made up 33.2% of exports and 31.3% of imports.
The European Union was Romania's main trading partner in the first five months of the year, accounting for 77.9% of imports to the country and for 75.8% of its exports.
In May alone, exports rose 4.1% on the year, while imports were up 12.2%.
In 2015, Romania's trade gap widened by 2.3 billion euro to 8.36 billion euro.
($= 0.9038 euro)