July 10 (SeeNews) - Romania's trade gap widened by 18% year-on-year to an estimated 4.467 billion euro ($5.1 billion) in the first five months of 2017, the country's statistical office, INS, said on Monday.
Exports and imports rose by 11.1% and 12% on the year, respectively, during the January-May period, INS said in a statement.
The European Union absorbed 76% of Romania's exports in the period under review, and provided the same percentage of the country's imports.
Machinery and transport equipment accounted for 47.9% of Romania's exports and 36.9% of its imports in the first five months of 2017, while other manufactured goods made up 33.7% of exports and 30.7% of imports.
In May alone, Romania's exports rose 19.3% on the year, while imports increased 18% compared to the corresponding month of 2016.
Romania's trade gap widened to 9.95 billion euro in 2016 from 8.36 billion euro in the previous year.
($=0.8757 euro)