Kazakhstani trade surplus grows by 1.5 percent to top $34

Kazakhstan’s foreign trade surplus increased by 1.5 percent in the first nine months of the year, as compared to the same period of 2011, and reached 34.202 billion US dollars as of October 1, the republican statistics agency said in its official report published on Monday. In January-September 2012, Kazakhstani foreign trade made went up by 13.5 percent to 89.984 billion US dollars, the document underlined, adding that the republic’s export grew by 9.3 percent to 62.093 billion US dollars, while the import increased by 24.1 percent to 27.891 billion US dollars. Herewith, Kazakhstan’s export to the countries of the Customs Union went down by 11.6 percent in the period under review to stand at 4,546 billion US dollars, the statistics’ report noted, adding that the republic’s import increased by 5.2 percent to 10.975 billion US dollars. In the reporting period, Italy was Kazakhstan’s leading exporter. So, 16.8 percent of the Kazakhstani overall export accounted for Italy. China and the Netherlands were in the top three, the document wrote, adding that their shares amounted to 15.9 percent and 9.3 percent respectively. Touching upon Kazakhstan’s major importers, the national statistics service mentioned Russia (37.9 percent), China (16.6 percent) and Ukraine (7.4 percent).