Trade Balance in Slovakia

Slovakia's trade balance captures the value of goods traded between Slovak residents and the rest of the world over a period. It is measured as the difference between exports and imports and is published by the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic.

It is derived by subtracting the value of imports from that of exports recorded in the foreign-trade statistics, usually on a monthly basis. A positive balance is a trade surplus and a negative one a deficit; it is normally expressed in millions of euros.

The external balance is a component of GDP and thus affects growth, and it gauges the competitiveness of an economy as open and export-oriented as Slovakia's, with a heavy automotive sector. A wide surplus points to greater external strength.

The figures are not final: each release tends to revise earlier periods and the data come out with some lag. They are also volatile and sensitive to one-off factors, such as energy prices or the automotive industry's cycles.