Positive Balance Of Belarus’ Foreign Trade Collapses Almost 10 Times

Shocking statistics.

The National Bank has summed up Belarus' foreign trade in 2023. Thanks to services, the overall balance remained positive and amounted to $480.7 million. The year before it was $4.6 billion - 9.5 times more.

Last year, the country exported goods and services worth $47.9 billion and imported $47.4 billion. Imports grew much faster than exports: 12.1% versus 2.1%. As a result, the balance, although it remained positive, collapsed from $4.6 billion to $480.7 million.

Trade in goods ruined everything. If the year before last Belarus sold more abroad than it bought, then in 2023 it was the other way around. The balance was plus $385 million, last year - minus $2.4 billion. Exports grew by 4.6%, and imports by 12%.

Imports of services also increased significantly, by 12.7%, while exports fell by 7.9%. However, the balance still remained positive and saved the overall foreign trade indicator.

Earlier, Belstat calculated that last year Belarus sold goods abroad for $40.2 billion, and bought goods for $43.3 billion. The negative balance was formed primarily due to attention to trade with countries outside the CIS: imports from there increased by 29%.

It is unknown what Belarus was so actively buying from the “far arc” states. The statistical agency hides information about which countries our country trades with and what exactly it trades with.