In H1 2008 Belarus traded with 171 countries. The goods were exported to 128 countries and imported from 157, BelTA was told in the Ministry of Statistics and Analysis.

In January-June Belarus’ trading partners were Russia (49% of the total trade), the Netherlands (9.2%), Ukraine (6.9%), Germany (4.5%), Poland (3.9%), Latvia (3.1%), the UK (2.6%), China (2%) and also Brazil and Italy.

According to the Statistics Ministry, over the six months the exports to Russia were up 42% to $5.58 billion accounting for 32.3% of the total exports. Exports to the Netherlands increased 68.8% to $3.2 billion (18.6% of the total exports), Ukraine 2.6 times to $1.5 billion (8.7%).

All in all, in H1 Belarus’ international trade was up 58.5% to $36.76 billion. Exports surged 61.8% to $17.273 billion, imports 55.7% to $19.488 billion.