In the first three months of this year, commodity exports totalled USD 2.63 billion, an increase of 10.9 per cent over the same period last year, while imports rose by 17.4 per cent to USD 5.58 billion.
The foreign trade deficit thus exceeded USD 2.9 billion and was nearly 24 per cent higher than in the first quarter of 2006. The import-export ratio declined from last year's 49.9 per cent to 47.1 per cent.
Considering a fall in the dollar exchange rate of about 8 per cent, the data expressed in the domestic currency, the kuna, give considerably lower growth rates.
Commodity exports, valued at HRK 14.7 billion, saw a rise of a mere 2.1 per cent, while imports rose 8 per cent to HRK 31.3 billion.
The data on trade trends in the first quarter of this year do not give much hope that this year's trends will differ considerably from those registered in the past few years, analysts at the Croatian Chamber of Economy said.