Moldova’s statistics office reported that the country’s trade gap increased by 26% year on year to $1.23bn (8.5% of the country’s annual GDP) in Q1, as exports edged up by only 1.2% y/y to €1.08bn while imports advanced by 13.1% y/y to €2.31bn.
However, the country’s trade gap has moderated in Q1 this year after it reached around $1.4bn in each of the two previous quarters (Q3 and Q4 of 2022).
However, the country’s trade gap after filtering out the energy imports and exports surged even more, by 58% y/y to $707mn according to bne Intellinews calculations.
The net imports of energy contracted by 1.1% y/y to a still significant $525mn as the country didn’t need to import more natural gas after it filled up its reserves before the end of last year.