MINSK: In 2015 Belarus reduced its commodity imports by 25.2% to $30.3 billion as compared to 2014, BelTA learnt from the National Statistics Committee. Last year Belarus’ foreign trade in goods fell by 25.6% from a year earlier to almost $57 billion.
Export was down by 26% to total nearly $26.7 billion. Belarus had a $3.6 billion deficit in the foreign trade in goods in 2015. Last year the deficit was $4.4 billion. Belarus’ trade with the CIS countries amounted to $32.4 billion (a decline of 28.4%). Export to the CIS countries shrank by 33.3% and totaled $14.1 billion; import dwindled by 24.2% to $18.3 billion. Trade with Russia fell by 26.3% to $27.5 billion.
Belarus’ trade with non-CIS countries came at almost $24.6 billion in 2015 (a drop of 21.4%). Export decreased by 15.8% to $12.6 billion, import plummeted by 26.6% to $11.9 billion.
Belarus had a surplus to the tune of $645.2 million. The trade with the European Union amounted to $14.4 billion (71.7% to 2014). Export went down by 19.4% to nearly $8.6 billion. Import plunged by 38.3% and exceeded $5.8 billion. Belarus had a surplus of $2.8 billion.