The trade deficit (FOB/CIF) in the first seven months of this year stood at 15.604 billion euros, 3.201 billion euros lower, or 17.0%, than that recorded in the period January 1 - July 31, 2022, according to information the National Institute of Statistics (INS) released on Monday.Thus, in the period January 1 - July 31, 2023, exports increased 4.6% and imports decreased 1.1% compared to the same period last year.In the first seven months of the year, important shares in the structure of exports and imports are held by the product groups: machinery and transport equipment (44.8% for exports and 36.3% for imports) and other manufactured products (30.3% for exports and 29.2% for imports).In the first seven months of 2023, FOB exports totalled 55.085 billion euros and CIF imports 70.689 billion euros.In July 2023, FOB exports amounted to 7.656 billion euros and CIF imports to 9.938 billion euros, resulting in a deficit of 2.282 billion euros.Compared to July 2022, July 2023 exports decreased 3.0% and imports dropped 11.5%.The value of intra-EU27 trade in goods at seven months 2023 was 40.105 billion euros in dispatches and 52.007 billion euros in arrivals, representing 72.8% of total exports and 73.6% of total imports.The value of extra-EU27 trade in goods between January 1 and July 31, 2023, accounted for 14.981 billion euros in exports and 18.683 billion eurso in imports, representing 27.2% of total exports and 26.4% of total imports.