SOFIA, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria's exports to and imports from the non-European Union (EU) countries from January to June 2017 increased by 25.4 percent and 33 percent year-on-year respectively, official statistics revealed on Wednesday.
In the first half of this year, the country's exports to the non-EU countries amounted to 8.8 billion BGN (5.3 billion U.S. dollars), according to preliminary data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI).
Main trade partners of Bulgaria were Turkey, China, Russia, Serbia, Egypt and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia which accounted for 51.4 percent of exports to non-EU countries.
Meanwhile, Bulgarian imports from the non-EU countries reached 10.4 billion BGN, with the largest amounts reported for the goods imported from Russia, Turkey, China and Serbia, the NSI said.
China, in particular, was Bulgaria's second largest export destination outside the EU, and the third largest non-EU importer, with figures amounting to 609 million BGN and 1.1 billion BGN, or 50 percent and 15.6 percent more than in the first half of 2016. (1 U.S. dollar = 1.66 BGN)
