September 11 (SeeNews) - Romania's trade deficit increased by 33% year-on-year to an estimated 6.824 billion euro ($8.235 billion) in the first seven months of 2017, the country's statistical office, INS, said on Monday.
Exports rose by 9.4% while imports grew 12.6% on the year during the January-July period, INS said in a statement.
The European Union absorbed 75.9% of both Romania's exports and imports in the period under review.
Machinery and transport equipment accounted for 47.2% of Romania's exports and 37.3% of the country's imports in the first seven months of 2017, while other manufactured goods made up 33.9% of exports and 30.8% of imports.
In July alone, Romania's exports rose 8.6% on the year, while imports increased 14% compared to the corresponding month of 2016.
Romania's trade gap widened to 9.95 billion euro in 2016 from 8.36 billion euro in the previous year.
($=0.8289 euro)