In the year 2001 Dutch international trade in goods was up on 2000 in terms of value, despite a dip in the fourth quarter. Preliminary figures by Statistics Netherlands show that the value of exported goods went up by 4% in 2001 to a total of nearly 241 billion euro. Imports increased by nearly 1% to over 217 billion euro. The increase in imports and exports can be explained in part by a slight price increase in 2001.
Quarterly developments
In the first quarter of 2001 the growth rate was well over 10%. After that the growth rate turned negative. The last quarter of 2001 saw imports fall by 12% and exports by 6%. This is partly due to the developments in import and export prices. Both started slipping in the course of the year.
Imports and exports down in December
In December 2001 imports and exports were down on December 2000. Imports were 14% less and exports 7%. So the trend of the previous two months continued.
Trade with the EU countries
Imports from the other EU countries amounted to almost 119 billion euro in 2001. In comparison with 2000 imports hardly increased. The stagnation is mainly due to the fourth quarter, where imports fell on 2000.
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(source: Statistics Netherlands)
