Brussels, 25/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - The countries of the EU are still Algeria's principal partners, with 53.78% of imports and 45.69% of exports, according to figures released by the country's national statistics centre (CNIS), in a report quoted by the media of the country dated 21 July. Compared to the first half of 2010, imports from the EU saw an increase of 19.05%, rising to $12.52 billion from $10.52 billion one year ago, the office reports. Algeria's exports to the EU over the same period rose by 10.69% (from $15.12 billion to $16.74 billion). Overall, Algerian external trade is doing well. Algeria's trade surplus is on the increase, at a level of $13.34 billion in the first half of 2011, compared to $11.22 billion for the same period in 2010. This increase, however, can be explained by a rise of more than 17% in the value of hydrocarbons.
Between January and June 2011, Algeria's five largest clients were the United States ($8.29 billion), Italy ($4.91 billion), Spain ($3.81 billion), France ($2.86 billion) and the Netherlands ($2.38 billion). As regards suppliers, top spot goes to France ($3.65 billion), followed by Italy ($2.55 billion), China ($2.02 billion), Spain ($1.7 billion) and Germany ($1.3 billion dolars).
Of this volume, trade with the countries of the Union of Arab Maghreb (UMA) was up 55.41%, rising from $924 million in the first six months of 2010 to $1.44 billion during the same reference period in 2011. (F.B./transl.fl)