MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Paraguay foreign trade rebounds in May, surplus of US$ 1,261 billion

The Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) reveals that exports in May 2023 reached a total value of US$ 7,174.9 million, marking a significant 26.9% increase

The latest foreign trade report from the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) reveals that the country’s exports in May 2023 reached a total value of US$ 7,174.9 million, marking a significant 26.9% increase compared to the same month in the previous year.

 The bulletin further elaborates that remittances to international markets during the analyzed period accounted for 69.7% of the overall export value, reaching US$ 5 billion. This represents a noteworthy 25.2% increase compared to the accumulated value in the corresponding period of 2022.

Re-exports, on the other hand, contributed 24.7% to the total export value, amounting to US$ 1,775 million, which reflects a substantial 29.7% growth compared to the same period last year.

Other exports from Paraguay, accounting for 5.6% of the total, exhibited remarkable growth of 38.4% compared to May of the previous year, reaching a value of USD 398.5 million.

The export increase can be mainly attributed to higher soy, electricity, and rice shipments. The export value of cosmetic products reached USD 438.2 million, marking an 8.9% increase compared to the same period in 2022.

Regarding imports, the country witnessed a total of US$ 5,958 million until May 2023, representing a modest 2.5% increase compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

Registered imports constituted 95.9% of the total, with a value of US$ 5,715 million, reflecting a 2.5% increase compared to the accumulated value in May 2022. Other imports accounted for the remaining 4.1%, totaling US$ 243.3 million. In terms of volumes, there was a reduction of 13.4%.

Lastly, in May 2023, the trade balance recorded a surplus of US$ 1,216.1 million, marking a significant improvement of US$ 1,376.8 million compared to the deficit recorded in May 2022.