October 10 (SeeNews) - Romania's trade gap widened by 21% on the year to an estimated 10.85 billion euro ($11.9 billion) in the first eight months of 2019, the statistical office, INS, said on Thursday.
Exports and imports rose by 1.7% and 4.8%, respectively, in the period January-August, INS said in a statement.
The European Union absorbed 76.7% of Romania's exports in the period under review, and accounted for 74.5% of the country's imports.
Machinery and transport equipment accounted for 47.5% of Romanian exports and 37.1% of imports, while other manufactured goods made up 32.2% of exports and 30.3% of imports.
In August alone, Romania's exports and imports each fell 2.5% on the year.
Romania's trade deficit widened by an annual 17% to 15.1 billion euro in 2018.
($= 0.9105 euro)