November 9 (SeeNews) - Romania's trade deficit increased by 29.5% year-on-year to an estimated 8.88 billion euro ($10.3 billion) in the first nine months of 2017, the country's statistical office, INS, said on Thursday.
Exports rose by 9.2%, while imports grew 11.8% on the year in January-September, INS said in a statement.
The European Union absorbed 75.9% of Romania's exports and provided the same share of the country's imports in the period under review.
Machinery and transport equipment contributed 46.6% of Romania's exports and 37.1% of the country's imports in the first nine months of 2017, while other manufactured goods made up 33.6% of exports and 30.9% of imports.
In September alone, Romania's exports rose 6% on the year, while imports increased 9.2% compared to the corresponding month of 2016.
Romania's trade gap widened to 9.95 billion euro in 2016 from 8.36 billion euro in the previous year.
($=0.8614 euro)