Record high foreign trade surplus in January

The Czech Republic´s foreign trade ended in a record-high surplus of 29.6 billion crowns in January, 11.7 billion higher year on year and the highest figure since the establishment of the Czech Republic in 1993, the Czech Statistical Office announced on Thursday. According to preliminary data, exports increased by 11 percent and imports by 6.3 percent year on year. The surplus is fuelled by trade with EU member states which grew by 7.1 billion to 68.8 billion, while that with non-EU countries ended in a deficit of 39.2 billion, which is 4.6 billion crowns lower year on year.