PRAGUE, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Czech Republic reported a foreign trade deficit of 23.3 billion Czech crowns (984.45 million U.S. dollars) for the month of May, according to preliminary data published by the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) on Thursday.

This figure represents a year-on-year decline of 26.4 billion Czech crowns, which the office attributed mainly to the rising prices of oil and natural gas.

Within the European Union (EU), the Czech Republic's trade balance improved by 17.6 billion Czech crowns year-on-year in May, but worsened by 43.5 billion Czech crowns for countries outside the EU.

Year-on-year exports managed to increase by 18.1 percent to a total of 390.3 billion Czech crowns during the month but were offset by an increase in imports by 26.3 percent, which totaled 413.6 billion Czech crowns.

From January to May, the total trade deficit this year has so far stood at 60.1 billion Czech crowns, compared to a surplus of 85 billion Czech crowns in that same period last year.

All told, exports have increased by 7.9 percent while imports have grown 17.6 percent year-on-year since the beginning of the year. (1 U.S. dollar = 23.67 Czech crowns) Enditem

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