Since 1992, Kyrgyzstan's trade balance has been negative, continuing the structural deficit caused by the costs of oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural resources formerly supplied through internal trade with other Soviet republics. The countries of the former USSR still represent the major export markets, but 25% of total exports are typically sent to countries outside the former USSR.
Kyrgyzstan exports metals, including gold, mercury, iron, steel and uranium (15%), hydropower (11.5%), tobacco (9.8%), cotton (4.7%), road vehicles (3.3%), and inorganic chemicals (2.8%).
In 1999 Kyrgyzstan's imports were distributed among the following categories:
Consumer goods | 12.4% |
Food | 11.7% |
Fuels | 20.1% |
Industrial supplies | 21.8% |
Machinery | 26.8% |
Transportation | 7.1% |
Other | 0.1% |
Principal trading partners in 1999 (in millions of US dollars) were as follows:
COUNTRY | EXPORTS | IMPORTS | BALANCE |
Germany | 145 | 25 | 120 |
Uzbekistan | 89 | 75 | 14 |
Russia | 65 | 133 | -68 |
China (inc. Hong Kong) | 44 | 37 | 7 |
Switzerland | 34 | 3 | 31 |
Kazakhstan | 33 | 58 | -25 |
Turkey | 7 | 27 | -20 |
United States | 3 | 54 | -51 |
Turkmenistan | 3 | 19 | -16 |
Canada | n.a. | 11 | n.a. |
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