External trade – 4th Quarter and Year 2023
Highlights
Fourth quarter 2023
Exports
Total exports for the fourth quarter of 2023, including domestic exports, re-exports and ship's stores and bunkers, amounted to Rs 26,072 million, showing a decrease of 7.8% compared to the value of Rs 28,269 million in the corresponding quarter of 2022. This is mainly explained by decreases in the exports of “Chemicals and related products, n.e.s" (-36.5%), “Miscellaneous manufactured articles" (-18.6%), “Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material" (-17.3%), “Machinery and transport equipment" (-14.1%) and “Food and live animals" (-2.1%), partly offset by an increase in the exports of “Ship's stores and bunkers" (+11.6%).
Compared to the previous quarter, total export proceeds for the fourth quarter of 2023 decreased by 5.0%.
Imports
Total imports in the fourth quarter of 2023 amounted to Rs 73,849 million, showing a decrease of 4.9% compared to the value of Rs 77,654 million in the corresponding quarter of 2022. This is due to decreases in the imports of “Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material" (-15.5%), “Mineral fuels, lubricants, & related products" (-7.8%) and “Miscellaneous manufactured articles" (-1.8%), partly offset by increases in the imports of “Machinery & transport equipment" (+5.7%), “Chemicals and related products" (+1.3%) and “Food and live animals" (+0.4%).
Compared to the previous quarter, total imports for the fourth quarter of 2023 increased by 2.3%.
Balance of trade
The trade deficit for the fourth quarter of 2023 worked out to Rs 47,777 million, around 3.3% lower than the deficit of Rs 49,385 million of the corresponding quarter of 2022.
Compared to the previous quarter, the deficit for the fourth quarter of 2023 increased by 6.7%.
Year 2023
Exports
Total export proceeds for the year 2023 were valued at Rs 104,081 million, representing a decrease of 1.4% over the 2022 figure of Rs 105,524 million. This is explained by decreases in “Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material" (-13.0%) and “Miscellaneous manufactured articles" (-9.4%), partly offset by an increase in “Food and live animals" (+17.2%).
Imports
Total imports for the year 2023 amounted to Rs 284,348 million, representing a decrease of 2.7%, compared to Rs 292,112 million in 2022. This is mostly explained by decreases in “Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material" (-18.4%) and “Mineral fuels, lubricants & related products"
(-12.4%), partly offset by increases in “Machinery & transport equipment" (+18.4%) and “Food and live animals" (+3.4%).
Balance of trade
The trade deficit for year 2023 worked out to Rs 180,267 million, around 3.4% lower than the deficit of Rs 186,588 million for the year 2022.
