Belgium's exports grew in April, for the first in over a year, according to provisional figures released by the National Bank of Belgium (BNB) on Friday.
Strong growth in imports and exports had been registered from early 2021 to late 2022, but then a slowdown began, followed by a fall, starting in Spring 2023. A low point was reached in September, when imports and exports declined by a quarter and one-fifth respectively. However, a gradual recovery appears to have been on the horizon for several months.
In April, exports experienced positive growth of 2.5%, the first in over a year. On the other hand, imports are estimated to have decreased by 2.1% year-on-year.
Between February and April, imports and exports decreased by 10.6% and 6.8% respectively compared to the corresponding period in 2023.
Chemical and pharmaceutical products, accounting for nearly a quarter of imports and over 27% of exports, contributed 3.3 percentage points to the import decline and 1 percentage point to the decline in exports.
Mineral products, mainly energy sources such as natural gas and crude oil, made up one-sixth of imports and one-eighth of exports. They contributed 1.8 and 1.6 percentage points to the decline in imports and exports.
“The value imported in this sector fluctuates greatly due to price changes on international markets,” the BNB explained. “Despite a sharp drop in the annual average prices of crude oil and natural gas in 2023 compared to 2022, the average prices of these two products, particularly oil, remain higher in 2023 and in the first four months of 2024 than their pre-pandemic level.”
On the other hand, the food and beverage sectors, accounting for 4.7% and 6.9% of the total value of imports and exports respectively, showed growth. They contributed 0.3 and 0.1 percentage points respectively to import and export growth.
