Exports from Kazakhstan to countries of the Customs Union between January and December 2012 were up 30% on the same period in 2011, Kazakhstan's State Statistics Agency has announced, Kazakh Foreign Ministry Press Release says. The improvement was not uniform across all sectors of the economy, however. The export of commodities for the period actually fell by over 23%, but the export of processed goods was up by almost 17%. In terms of finished products, the rise was actually almost 30%.
Kazakhstan's external trade with the Customs Union amounted to over USD 24.5bn, in itself an increase of almost 7% on 2011. The value of exports fell slightly - down by USD 6.8bn, or 3.7% - while imports rose by nearly USD 18bn (an increase of 11.7%).