The National Statistical Committee presented data on Kyrgyzstan’s foreign trade for January — March this year. The volume of imports is still high.

Export supplies are growing mainly due to the sale of gold to other countries. This trend was registered last year and continues now. There have also been no significant changes among the imported goods preferred by the Kyrgyz Republic. The republic continues to actively buy cars and dishwashers.

But if in 2023 everything was clear, because the bulk of purchased cars and household appliances were exported, now the republic sells very few of these goods. It turns out that the state has decided to sharply renew its car fleet.

According to the results of January — March 2024, Kyrgyzstan’s foreign trade turnover reached $3,723.9 billion, which is 29.8 percent higher than in 2023. Exports amounted to $510.9 million (12.8 percent growth), imports — $3,213 billion (33 percent growth).

The country traded with EAEU states for $868.5 million.

Data show that gold remains the mainstay of Kyrgyzstan’s exports. At the end of the first quarter of this year it is 27.3 percent of the total volume of exported goods.

Interestingly, if in previous months the republic exported almost the entire volume of gold to Switzerland, now the leader is Hong Kong (China).

The top five export commodities remain unchanged for the second year in a row:

• Gold;
• Ores and concentrates of precious metals;
• Petroleum products;
• Copper waste and scrap;
• Communications equipment.

But cars, for example, which were actively sold to other countries throughout 2023, have disappeared from the list. The export of cars has not stopped at all, just the volumes have decreased. In the first quarter, the country supplied them for $7.3 million.

But other goods have appeared, which Kyrgyzstan has started to actively trade. Some items are surprising, for example, curtains and drapes.

The structure of export supplies of the republic is extremely diverse. In January — March 2024, the Kyrgyz Republic exported 581 items of goods.

Sometimes, of course, it is unclear where certain goods are produced. Apparently, vacuum cleaners are also produced somewhere in the country, which it exported for $1,200, and so many bananas are grown that they were exported for $18,600 for three months.

The main countries where Kyrgyzstan supplies its goods are the same. According to the results of the first quarter of this year, Russia became the main trade partner of the Kyrgyz Republic. Switzerland, which had been the leader before, takes only the fourth place. Otherwise, we focus on our nearest neighbors.

But Kyrgyzstan does not refuse to supply goods to countries very far from it — Australia, Peru, Jordan, Libya and Kenya.

Passenger cars hold the top spot in imports — 28.3 percent of the total volume in value terms. In January — March 2024, at least 50,400 of them were imported for $911 million. At the same time, 63.7 percent of the supplies came from China.

At least 32,100 cars were delivered from there for $552.8 million. 8,000 cars worth $66.5 million were also imported from South Korea. The Kyrgyz Republic continues to increase imports of cars, although their exports to other countries are gradually decreasing.

Dishwashers remain in second place in terms of import volumes. This is the third year since the republic has been actively purchasing them. From January to March 2024, Kyrgyzstan imported 52,600 dishwashers worth $509.4 million.

Traditionally, oil products and medicines are the most popular among the goods the republic buys. At the same time, the top ten again includes sewing machines, which the Kyrgyz Republic actively imported last year. Import volumes of communication equipment also remain high, which is also among the leaders in export deliveries. This state of affairs suggests that we may be talking about the re-export of these goods.

If we talk about the sources of supplies of goods to Kyrgyzstan, it is mainly China. China accounts for more than half of imports.

In just three months of this year, the Kyrgyz Republic imported goods from 128 countries. Quite distant states were among them, for example Sierra Leone, Panama, San Marino, Honduras, Ethiopia.