May 10 (SeeNews) - Romania's trade deficit increased by 18% year-on-year in the first three months of 2018 to an estimated 2.71 billion euro ($3.21 billion), the national statistical office, INS, said on Thursday.
Exports and imports rose by 9.8% and 10.8% on the year, respectively, in the period January-March, INS said in a statement.
The European Union absorbed 76.6% of Romania's exports in the period under review, and provided 75.4% of the country's imports.
Machinery and transport equipment accounted for 48.4% of Romanian exports and 37% of imports, while other manufactured goods made up 32.2% of exports and 30.6% of imports.
In March alone, Romania's exports rose 6.6% on the year, while imports increased by 5.8%.
Romania's trade gap widened to 12.96 billion euro in 2017 from 9.972 billion euro in the previous year.
($=0.8432 euro)