Polish foreign trade deficit reaches $14bn

Poland's foreign trade deficit amounted to 10.58 billion euros (about 14 billion U.S. dollars) in 2012, 5.32 billion euros less than in 2011, the country's Central Statistical Office (GUS) said on Monday. According to the GUS, in 2012 Poland's exports reached 143.45 billion euros, up 4.9 percent year-on-year, while imports went up 1.0 percent year-on-year to 154.04 billion euros. Poland's exports to developed markets amounted to 82.3 percent, of which 76.1 percent were to the EU member states, and its imports from those markets amounted to 64.6 percent, of which 57.5 percent were from the EU member states. Deficits were recorded in trade with emerging markets and Central and Eastern Europe. In 2012, Poland saw an increase in its exports to Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Britain, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Germany, France and Sweden. Meanwhile, Poland's imports from Russia, the United States, the Netherlands, South Korea, China, the Czech Republic and Italy also boosted. (1 euro = 1.32 U.S. dollars)