May 10 (SeeNews) - Romania's trade gap widened by 20% on the year to an estimated 2.317 billion euro ($2.52 billion) in the first three months of 2017, the country's statistical office, INS, said on Wednesday.
Exports and imports rose by 11.5% and 12.4% on the year, respectively, during the January-March period, INS said in a statement.
The European Union absorbed 76.1% of Romania's exports in the period under review, and provided 76% of the country's imports.
Machinery and transport equipment accounted for 47.8% of Romanian exports and 36.9% of imports in the first quarter of 2017, while other manufactured goods made up 33.8% of exports and 30.5% of imports.
In March alone, Romania's exports rose 15.9% on the year, while imports increased 14.8%.
Romania's trade gap widened to 9.95 billion euro in 2016 from 8.36 billion euro in the previous year.
($=0.9172 euro)