Stats: Foreign Trade Starts Year with Drops in Both Exports and Imports

Bratislava, 11 March (TASR) - Following four months of growth, Slovakia's exports decreased by 2.8 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) to €8.4 billion in January, while imports fell by 4.1 percent y-o-y to €8.4 billion, the biggest fall seen since June 2024, according to a preliminary report for January 2026 published by the Statistics Office on Wednesday. Slovakia posted a trade-balance deficit of €33.1 million in January. This was an improvement by €119.5 million when compared to the same month of last year, however. Concerning the structure of exports, seven of the ten categories showed y-o-y decreases in the first month of the year. The most frequently traded category - machinery and transport equipment (including cars) - saw a drop of 2.7 percent y-o-y, the biggest drop seen since December 2024. When it come to the structure of imports, as many as nine of the ten categories posted declines in January. The decrease in total imports was also mainly influenced by a drop in the category of machinery and transport equipment, which went down by 4.6 percent y-o-y. Nevertheless, machinery and transport equipment remained the most frequently traded category in January 2026, making up almost 60 percent of overall exports and some 45 percent of overall imports. As much as 82 percent of Slovakia's exports went to other EU countries in January, while imports from them made up over 68 percent of the country's total imports. Exports to other EU countries grew by over 1 percent y-o-y, while imports from them grew by almost 11 percent. Exports to non-EU countries declined by more than 18 percent, and imports from them were almost 26 percent lower than the year before. ko/df