Croatia's exports in the first six months of 2018 came to 51.3 billion kuna (€6.9 billion), rising by two percent compared to the corresponding period in 2017, while imports increased by 5.5 percent to 85.9 billion kuna (€11.5 billion), national statistics bureau (DZS) reported on Thursday.

According to the preliminary figures, foreign trade deficit in the first six months of 2018 amounted to 34.6 billion kuna (€4.6 billion), which is 3.48 billion kuna (€467.8 million) more than in the same period in 2017, while the coverage of imports by exports was 61.8 percent.

Exports to EU countries totalled €35.2 billion or 7.6 percent more than in the first six months of 2017, while imports amounted to €16.1 billion, a decrease of 8.4 percent.

Italy and Germany have remained Croatia’s main foreign trade partners.

Croatia saw a decrease in trade with countries of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), with exports to those countries going down by 1.8 percent, to €921.2 million.

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