The Council of Ministers adopted on Friday the Analysis of Foreign Trade of Bosnia and Herzegovina for last year, which amounted to 30.99 billion BAM.
The analysis, prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations in the Council of Ministers, states that the value of exported goods was 11.49 billion BAM, and the value of imported goods 19.50 billion BAM, which resulted in a trade deficit of 8.01 billion BAM.
“The trade deficit recorded an increase of 8.6% compared to the previous year,” the Council of Ministers stated.
The statement adds that the main characteristics of foreign trade last year were its total decrease of 0.6%, decline in exports by 3.4 percent, growth in imports by 1.2%, and a decline in the rate of coverage of imports by exports by 2.8%.
The European Union is still the main foreign trade partner of BiH and participates in the total volume of trade with 66%, followed by CEFTA countries with 14%, while other countries participate with 20%, it is added in the announcement.
Of the main trade partners, the largest coverage of imports by exports of BiH is with Austria (151%), Slovenia (111%), Germany (72%), Croatia (69%), France (62%), Serbia (61%), and Italy (56%).
The Council of Ministers also adopted the Analysis of Trade in Agricultural and Food Products for the period from 2017 to 2019, which states that the dynamics of exports was characterized by a continuous decline in the quantity of exported goods, and that the deficit is not less than 2 billion BAM.