The balance of payments current account was mainly affected by a trade deficit that rose by 6.1% and a surplus in the services account that was up 7%. The commodities account registered a deficit of EUR 6.4 billion, a 6.1% increase in relation to 2010.
Exports went up 7.9% to EUR 9.8 billion, while imports rose by 7.2% to reach EUR 16.1 billion. By comparison, in 2010 exports grew by 18% while imports dropped by 0.2% from 2009.
The services account, which was mainly affected by an increase in tourism revenues, registered a surplus of EUR 6.4 billion, an increase of slightly over 7% compared with 2010. Tourism revenues increased by nearly 6% to EUR 6.6 billion, while tourism expenditures declined by 0.1% to EUR 628.4 million.
The income account showed a deficit of EUR 1.6 billion, a 3.7% rise in relation to 2010.
The current transfers account revealed a surplus of EUR 1.1 billion, a 2.7% increase compared with the year before.