Poland’s balance of payments in November 2022
NBP data: In November 2022, the current account of the balance of payments posted deficits in the trade in goods account (PLN 7.0bn), the primary income account (PLN 8.4bn) and the secondary income account (PLN 0.3bn), and surpluses in the services account (PLN 13.8bn).
Preliminary data on Poland’s balance of payments in November 2022, released by NBP on 13 January 2023, show a deficit of PLN 2.0bn on the country’s current account. In the corresponding month of 2021, the balance was also negative and stood at PLN 6.9bn.
In November 2022, the value of goods exports amounted to PLN 141.0bn, representing an increase of PLN 25.0bn (i.e. 21.5%) as compared with the corresponding month of 2021. The value of goods imports rose by PLN 23.5bn (i.e. 18.9%) on the November 2021 figure, reaching PLN 148.0bn. The growth rate in the trade in goods in nominal terms in November 2022 was significantly lower than in previous months (on average between January and October 2022 it was 25.9% and 33.8%, respectively).
For the first time since April 2021 the value of exports rose faster than the value of imports. On the one hand, this was the result of the improvement in price relations consisting in a gradual acceleration of price growth of manufacturing products along with a slowdown in the growth of commodities and semi-finished products. On the other hand, fast growth in exports in the motor industry continued. The volume of food and fuel exports also increased. However, the deepening falls in the volume of intermediate goods and durable consumer goods had a negative impact on real export growth.
Fuel continued to have the biggest impact on import growth, although it was weaker than in previous months. The supply of coal reached record levels, while the supply of oil was lower than in the previous year. Imports of parts for vehicles and food also increased. At the same time, the fall in imports of intermediate goods deepened. In November 2022 imports of consumer goods also declined.
Exports of services stood at PLN 37.9bn, representing an increase of PLN 7.8bn (i.e. 25.8%) on the corresponding month of 2021. Imports of services stood at PLN 24.1bn, having increased by PLN 4.3bn (i.e. 21.7%) on the November 2021 figure.
The negative balance of the primary income was primarily determined by foreign direct investors’ income on their equity investment in Polish entities, which amounted to PLN 11.0bn. The balance of the primary income account was also influenced by the payment of income on portfolio investment (PLN 0.8bn) and on other investment (PLN 1.3bn).