Last year, foreign trade showed a record surplus of EUR 4.5 billion, in 2022, on the contrary, there was a deficit of EUR 4.5 billion

Slovakia's foreign trade balance reached the highest value since 2014, which was mainly due to a significantly lower import of mineral fuels and an increased export of motor vehicles. Germany continues to be a key trading partner of Slovakia. More than a fifth of exports went to Germany, and almost 15% of imports were produced in this country.

In 2023, according to the definitive results, goods worth¹⁾ EUR 108.4 billion were exported from Slovakia, which represents a year-on-year increase by 5.5%. On the contrary, imports recorded a decrease by 3.1% compared to 2022 and reached a value of EUR 103.9 billion. Thus, the balance of foreign trade was in surplus in the amount of EUR 4.5 billion, which means an improvement by EUR 9 billion compared to the previous year.

The year-on-year increase in exports was mainly influenced by the 23.6% increase in the export of new passenger cars. The value of the export of new passenger cars from Slovakia thus increased by EUR 5.8 billion year-on-year to EUR 30.4 billion. The amount of exported motor vehicles increased by 13.4%, i.e. by 136.6 thousand. pieces. The largest export value was represented by petrol cars, and of these, cars with an engine volume of 1.5 l to 3 l. The value of their exports increased by 55.2% year-on-year. Year-on-year, the value of exported electric cars also increased by almost 20% and hybrids by 17.3%.

The year-on-year lower value of imported natural gas had the greatest impact on the decrease in imports, which dropped by almost half compared to 2022, when it reached the level of EUR 3.0 billion. The amount of natural gas in 2023 decreased by only 18.2%. A more significant difference between the decrease in the value and volume of imported gas was  due to lower gas prices on world markets.

Of the countries to which Slovakia exported goods of the highest value in 2023, Germany, neighboring countries and France dominated. Exports to Germany increased by 5.8% year-on-year and represented 21% of the total Slovak exports. Germany thus belongs to our most important business partners, where goods of the highest value are sent for a long time. Among other important partners, exports to Czechia increased year-on-year by 5%, exports to the United States of America by 39.5%, the United Kingdom by 18.8% and China by 10.1% also experienced a large increase. Conversely, exports to Poland, Hungary, France and Italy decreased.

From the perspective of the main economic groupings, almost 77.4% of the value of exported goods went to EU countries²⁾, and this value increased by 2% year-on-year. Exports to OECD countries increased by 4.3% (86.5% of Slovakia's total exports).

The value of annual imports³⁾ decreased year-on-year. Among the most important trading partners, fewer goods were imported from China by 3.8%, the Republic of Korea by 3.1%, and the most significant drop was recorded in imports from the Russian Federation, namely by 44.2%. On the contrary, more goods were imported from Germany, Czechia, Poland and Hungary.

From the perspective of the main economic groupings, compared to 2022, imports from EU countries increased by 1.1% (they represented 64.9% of total imports) and from the OECD countries by 5.1% (the SR represented 64.7% of total imports).

The Slovak Republic had the highest balance surplus with Germany (EUR 7.5 billion), the United States of America (EUR 3.5 billion), the United Kingdom (EUR 3.2 billion), Austria (EUR 2.8 billion), France (EUR 2.8 billion), Hungary (EUR 2.3 billion) and Czechia (EUR 2.2 billion). Slovakia also had a balance surplus with Poland and Italy. Slovakia had the largest deficit with the Republic of Korea (EUR 5.4 billion), China (EUR 4.8 billion), the Russian Federation (EUR 4.2 billion) and Vietnam (EUR 4.1 billion).