Poland’s balance of payments in July 2023
NBP data: In July 2023, the current account of the balance of payments posted surpluses in the services account (PLN 15.3bn) and trade in goods account (PLN 4.7bn), but deficits in the primary income account (PLN 16.1bn) and the secondary income account (PLN 1.4bn).
Preliminary data on Poland’s balance of payments in July 2023, released on 13 September 2023, show a surplus of PLN 2.5bn on the country’s current account. In the corresponding month of 2022, the balance on the current account was negative and amounted to PLN 5.1bn.
July 2023 was another month which saw a positive balance of trade in goods. The surplus of exports over imports was at PLN 4.7bn, compared to a deficit of PLN 8.1bn in July 2022. At present, the balance is improving, mainly due to sharp decreases in the imports of fuels and intermediate goods and, to a lesser extent, an increase in exports of means of transport.
In July 2023, the declining trend in trade in goods became steeper. According to preliminary estimates, the value of goods exports amounted to PLN 115.2bn, which means a 5.6% decrease on the corresponding month of 2022. The value of goods imports decreased by 15.1% on the July 2022 figure to PLN 110.4bn.
The drop in exports was caused by a further decrease in exports of intermediate goods and consumer goods. It was also the first time this year that the value of exports of food and investment goods had declined. However, the upward trend in the exports of means of transport continued.
The value of imports fell in five out of the six main goods categories. The decline was the biggest in the imports of fuels and intermediate products. What contributed the most to the marked decline in the imports of fuel was a drop in fuel prices. Means of transport was the only category where the value of imports was higher than in 2022. The growth was driven by rising demand for new passenger cars coupled with bigger supplies of automotive parts in connection with the growing exports by this industry.
Exports of services amounted to PLN 38.2bn and rose by PLN 0.2bn (or 0.6%) on the corresponding month of 2022. Imports of services amounted to PLN 22.9bn, which represents an increase of PLN 0.6bn (or 2.7%) on the July 2022 figure.
The negative balance of the primary income account was primarily due to direct foreign investors’ income of PLN 14.1bn on their equity investments in Polish entities. The balance of the primary income account was also affected by income payments on portfolio investment (PLN 2.0bn) and on other investment (PLN 2.0bn).