Poland’s balance of payments in May 2023
NBP data: In May 2023, the current account of the balance of payments posted surpluses in the services account (PLN 15.4bn) and the trade in goods account (PLN 5.0bn), and deficits in the primary income account (PLN 13.0bn) and the secondary income account (PLN 1.1bn).
Preliminary data on Poland’s balance of payments in May 2023, released by NBP on 14 July 2023, show a surplus of PLN 6.3bn on the country’s current account. In the corresponding month of 2022, the balance on the current account was negative and amounted to PLN 6.4bn.
Since January 2023, the balance of the trade in goods account has been positive. According to preliminary estimates, in May 2023 the surplus of exports over imports was at PLN 5.0bn, compared to a PLN 7.4bn deficit in May 2022. The improvement in this balance is accompanied by a marked decline in the nominal growth rates of trade in goods. The total value of exports and imports decreased by 3.9% y/y (while it was 34.1% higher in May 2022 than in 2021). The change is primarily driven by falling transaction prices. Currently, the annual price index in exports is close to zero while in imports the scale of the index’s decline is growing.
In May 2023, the value of goods exports increased by merely 0.8% and amounted to PLN 128.2bn. Further exports growth in the automotive industry contributed to maintaining a continued upward trend, and May 2023 was another month which saw a strong rise in foreign sales of lithium-ion batteries. A big increase was also recorded in exports of delivery vehicles.
The month under analysis was at the same time the third successive month when imports fell. In this period the value of imports dropped by 8.4% y/y to PLN 123.1bn. The value of imports fell in five out of the six main categories. The value of imported intermediate goods, fuels and consumer goods fell the most. Means of transport was the only category where imports were higher than in the previous year.
Exports of services stood at PLN 37.9bn and rose by PLN 2.0bn (or 5.6%) on the corresponding month of 2022. Imports of services amounted to PLN 22.5bn, which represents an increase of PLN 1.7bn (or 8.0%) on the May 2022 figure.
The negative balance of the primary income account was primarily due to direct foreign investors’ income of PLN 12.2bn on their equity investment in Polish entities.
The balance of the primary income account was also affected by income payments on portfolio investment (PLN 1.1bn) and on other investment (PLN 1.7bn).