In his next analytical review, a regular contributor and economic observer of CentralAsia.news web portal for Turkmenistan Valentin Trapeznikov spoke about the significant intensification of external trade activities of Turkmenistan in the current year. In his review, the expert provided statistical evidence of the growth of indicators in this sphere.
Steady progress
For 7 months of the year, the external trade turnover of Turkmenistan exceeded $10.85 billion, or increased by almost 39% compared to the same period of the previous year.
During the reporting period, Turkmenistan’s exports amounted to more than $7 billion, which is 49.4% higher than in 2021.
Imports increased by 22.3%, amounting to more than $3.83 billion.
The external trade surplus exceeded $3.19 billion, which is more than 2 times higher than in 2021.
The positive factor is that the coefficient of excess of export earnings over import costs is 1.83. It is much higher than that in the previous year, which was 1.5.
Main vectors
In the reporting period, the increase in the value of exports of many commodity items is associated with a favourable pricing environment on the world market. First of all, this refers to petroleum and gas products. In value terms, the export of natural gas increased by more than 66%, petroleum products – by 18.7%, gasoline from natural gas – by more than 25% and petroleum coke – by more than 26%.
The growth in the physical and cost volumes of liquefied gas was observed – by 36.1% and 52.8%, respectively.
For 7 months of the year, the physical and cost volumes of electricity exports increased by 41.4% and 41%, respectively.
In the chemical industry, the export of fertilizers (by 19.5%), sulphur (by 1.9 times), and inorganic chemistry products (35.4%) increased in value terms.
In the reporting period, the export of liquorice root extract increased significantly - by 16.2% in physical terms and by 25% in value terms.
In the food industry, the export of confectionery products and sugar grew significantly; by 2.2 times in physical terms and almost by 2.7 times in value terms.
The export of other food products, in particular vegetables, to the foreign market increased significantly. In particular, the export of tomatoes increased by 46.3% in physical terms and 17.3% in value terms.
About imports
Imports rose significantly compared to the previous year.
The import of technological equipment and mechanical devices increased by 24.1%, raw materials and materials – by 13.6% and consumer goods – by 36%.
The import of non-food consumer goods increased by 24.3% and food products – by 57.9%.
The largest share of the imported non-food consumer goods includes pharmaceutical products, optical instruments and apparatuses, leather goods, carpets and floor products, perfumes and cosmetics.
Among food products, the import of meat, including poultry, sugar and confectionery, chocolate, fruits, nuts and some other items increased.
In fact, the list of imported goods serves to identify the main areas of the implementation of the import substitution policy. It should be noted that this policy in regard to the majority of products is being successfully implemented. Efforts are aimed at expanding the product range and increasing production.
