External Trade Statistics
2nd Quarter 2010
Highlights

1. Balance of Trade

Total exports for the first semester of 2010 stood at Rs 31,461 million against imports of Rs 62,774 million resulting in a trade deficit of Rs 31,313 million, which is 25.7% higher than the figure of Rs 24,914 million for the corresponding period of 2009.

2. Exports

Total export proceeds for the first semester of 2010 were valued at Rs 31,461 million, showing an increase of 8.6% over the corresponding semester of last year.

During the first semester of 2010, almost 40% of exports consisted of articles of apparel and clothing accessories (Rs 11,207 million), 16.4% of “fish and fish preparations” (Rs 4,604 million) and 9.9% of sugar (Rs 2,792 million).

The main export market remained the European continent with a share of 63.8%, while on a country-wise basis, the United Kingdom was the main buyer, accounting for 22.4% of total exports. The other main markets were France (17.7%), USA (9.9%), Italy (6.9%) and Madagascar (6.0%).

3. Imports

Total imports for the first six months of 2010 reached Rs 62,774 million showing an increase of 16.5% over the first semester of 2009.

During the first semester of 2010, “Machinery and transport” equipment accounted for 21.1% of our imports, “Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials” 19.7% and “Manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials” 18.2%.

The Asian countries supplied 53% of the imported products and another 25.2% came from European countries. The main source of imports was India (22.9%), followed by China (12.5%) and France (8.8%).

4. Forecast

Based on figures for the first semester of 2010 and trends for previous years, total exports for the year 2010 are expected to be of the order of Rs 63,000 million, against imports of Rs 130,000 million. The trade deficit would therefore be around Rs 67,000 million.

August 2010