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Hungary Trade Volume and Structure
Total trade turnover, at 1986 prices, rose from US$13.4
billion in 1981 to US$18.8 billion in 1986. Hungary's
exports
increased from US$6.5 billion to US$9.2 billion in the
same
period, while its imports increased from US$6.9 billion to
US$9.6
billion.
The principal imports were crude oil, coal, iron ore,
copper,
raw materials for the plastics industry, chemical fibers,
artificial fertilizers, paper, cotton, animal feed, and
capital
and consumer goods. Raw materials, semifinished goods, and
spare
parts accounted for 44.8 percent of imports in 1986.
Energy
imports increased from 6 percent of total imports in 1970
to 19.4
percent in 1986 (see
table 11, Appendix).
Hungary's main exports included agricultural products,
pharmaceuticals, bauxite, machine tools, buses,
telecommunications and electronic equipment, lighting
equipment,
industrial rubber goods, ball bearings, rolled steel and
aluminum, clothing, and footwear. In 1986 raw materials,
semifinished goods, and spare parts accounted for 30.2
percent of
exports. Exports of machinery, transport equipment, and
capital
goods increased from 16.7 percent of total exports in 1970
to 30
percent in 1986. Likewise, agricultural exports rose from
7.4
percent of total exports in 1970 to 20.1 percent in 1986.
Grain
exports increased from an average of about 1 million tons
a year
from 1976-80 to nearly 2.2 million tons in 1986. Meat
exports
also rose, from an average of 285,000 tons a year from
1976-80 to
421,000 tons in 1986 (see
table 12, Appendix).
Tourism enhanced Hungary's hard-currency balance sheet.
The
number of foreign tourists visiting Hungary rose from 4
million
in 1984 to 10.6 million in 1986, including 2 million from
noncommunist countries. Tourist spending netted Hungary
about
US$371 million in 1986. Most visitors came from
Czechoslovakia,
Poland, Austria, and Yugoslavia; approximately 117,000
Americans
visited the country in 1985. About 6.3 million Hungarians
traveled abroad in 1986, mostly in Eastern Europe. In 1988
the
government further eased restrictions on its citizens'
foreign
travel.
Data as of September 1989
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