Cambodia’s exports to EU surge 25% in 2022

Cambodia’s exports to the European Union (EU) last year were worth 4 billion USD, up 25% compared to the 2021’s figure. (Photo: khmertimeskh.com)

Phnom Penh (VNA) - Cambodia’s exports to the European Union (EU) last year were worth 4 billion USD, up 25% compared to the 2021’s figure, according to the country’s ministry of commerce.

The trade turnover between Cambodia and the EU reached 4.8 billion USD in 2022, an increase of 15.9% against the previous year.

The country spent 812 million USD on imports from this market, resulting in a trade surplus of 3.23 billion USD.

Germany was Cambodia’s largest EU trading partner last year with trade turnover amounting to over 1.2 billion USD, up by 19.2%. It was followed by Belgium (731 million USD), the Netherlands (596 million USD), France (542 million USD), and Spain (503 million USD), according to Cambodia’s general department of customs and excise (GDCE).

Germany was also the biggest EU buyer of Cambodian goods, at over 1 billion USD, marking a 23% increase year-on-year, followed by Belgium (642 million USD), the Netherlands (552 million USD), Spain (474.7 million USD), and France (423 million USD), GDCE figures show.

According to Hong Vanak, director of international economics at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, exports of garments, footwear, bags, bicycles and other items to the bloc remain in positive growth, even with the EU’s partial withdrawal of the tariff preferences granted to the country under the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme.

He emphasised that Cambodia's economic growth in the past two decades is associated with the active support of the EU market. It is forecasted that Cambodia's exports to the EU will continue to increase in value in the near future in the context that the bloc is still an important market for the Southeast Asian country, he added./.