At the same time, the increase in exports of domestically produced goods was greater than supplies abroad as a whole. Exports of domestic goods in January-March 2026 amounted to 686.8 million euros (80.9% of total exports), which is 13.3% more than in the same period of 2025.
Accordingly, the share of re-exports decreased to 19.1% of total external supplies, down 1.5% compared to the same period of 2025.
In 2025 as a whole, re-exports accounted for 21.2% of total shipments, and this was 5.1% less than in 2024.
That is, in general, for the last and the current year, a favorable trend is building up to increase the share of Made in Moldova goods in the total export flow.
But the ratio of re-export of goods partially processed on the territory of the country and simple resale remains stable. The share of foreign goods re-exported after substantial processing in the first three months of this year amounted to 13.4% of total exports, while classical re-export of foreign goods amounted to 5.7%.
In 2025, the ratio was approximately the same: foreign goods re-exported after processing amounted to 14.5%, and “classic” re-export goods – 6.7%.
By country, an interesting trend emerged. Despite all the rhetoric on the complete abandonment of the CIS markets, exports to them increased by 8.2%.
Exports to the EU countries also increased – by 9.5% against the corresponding period of 2025, or 61.8% of total exports.
In January-March 2026, the main countries of destination for exports of goods were: Romania (27% of the total volume), Turkey (15.9%), Italy (9%), Czech Republic (8.2%), Ukraine (8.1%), Germany (5.2%), which accounted for 73.3% of total exports.
At the same time, supplies increased to Turkey (+24.1%), Germany (1.7 times), Romania (+7.5%), Lebanon (3.2 times, thanks to supplies of corn and live cattle), Czech Republic (+12.1%) and Italy (+10.4%).
What we export
In the export structure from January to March 2026, the following commodity groups accounted for significant shares: Oilseeds (21.3% of total exports); electrical equipment and parts thereof (14.4%); vegetables and fruits (10.1%); cereals and cereal products (9.2%); clothing and accessories (7%); alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages (5.5%); furniture and parts (3.2%); petroleum, petroleum products and related products (2.6%); vegetable fats and oils (2.4%); metal ores and metal waste (2.4%); non-metallic mineral products (2.2%).
At the same time, exports of oilseeds increased by 50.7%, cereals and products based on them by 26.7%, vegetables and fruits by 10.9%, electrical equipment and electrical machinery and their parts by 5.4%, metal products by 1.7 times, vegetable fats and oils (raw, refined or fractionated) by 15.3%.
Commenting on the explosive growth of oilseed exports, the executive director of the Agrocereale association, Jurie Rizha, said that the volume of sunflower exports in March 2026 alone amounted to 91.7 thousand tons.
He noted that sunflower remains the absolute dominant, which accounted for exactly 99% of the total physical volume of oilseed exports. And the other six items total less than 1% both by weight and foreign exchange earnings.
“This is not diversification, it is a monocultural export with decorative admixtures,” the expert stated.
Export growth rates are slowing down
“As before, the entire growth was due to the sale abroad of agricultural products in fresh and processed form,” noted economist Volodymyr Golovatyuk.
In total, exports grew by 78.2 million euros, and exports of agricultural products and processed products by 81.5 million euros.
At the same time, however, it seems that the remnants of the 2025 harvest are running out.
“Given this fact, if the government does not take urgent action to increase the country’s export potential, the medium-term prospects for further export growth may be in doubt. In any case, there is already a downward trend in export growth – in January plus 13%, in February plus 10.4%, in March plus 7.5%,” the expert said.
The trade deficit has shrunk
In January-March 2026, imports of goods amounted to 2453.1 million euros, an increase of 1.4% compared to the corresponding period of 2025.
At the same time, imports from the EU increased by 2.9% to 1,386.3 million euros, while imports from CIS countries decreased by 9% to 73.7 million euros.
Thanks to the growth in exports, the trade deficit narrowed to EUR 1604.6 million, which is EUR 43.7 million (-2.6%) less than in the same period of 2025.
