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TOP 10
List of Czech Republic’s Top 10 Exports

Czech Republic shipped US$162.8 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2016, up by 44.2% since 2009 when the Great Recession kicked in and up by 3.6% from 2015 to 2016.

Czech Republic’s top 10 exports accounted for three-quarters (74.7%) of the overall value of its global shipments.

The Czech Republic is also called Czechia, its officially approved short name since May 2, 2016.

Based on statistics from the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook Database, Czech Republic’s total Gross Domestic Product amounted to $350.9 billion in 2016.

Therefore, exports accounted for about 46.4% of total Czech economic output.

From a continental perspective, 88.3% of Czech exports by value are delivered to other European countries while 6.7% are sold to Asian importers. Czech Republic ships another 2.7% to North America, with 1% of Czechian exports by value going to Africa.

Given Czech Republic’s population of 10.6 million people, its total $162.8 billion in 2016 exports translates to roughly $15,300 for every resident in that country.

Czech Republic’s unemployment rate was 5.3% as of January 2017 down from 6.4% one year earlier, according to Trading Economics.

TOP 10

The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Czech global shipments during 2016. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Czech Republic.

  1. Vehicles: US$34.4 billion (21.1% of total exports)
  2. Machinery including computers: $30.1 billion (18.5%)
  3. Electrical machinery, equipment: $27.7 billion (17%)
  4. Articles of iron or steel: $6.1 billion (3.7%)
  5. Plastics, plastic articles: $5.5 billion (3.4%)
  6. Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefab buildings: $4.7 billion (2.9%)
  7. Rubber, rubber articles: $3.6 billion (2.2%)
  8. Toys, games: $3.3 billion (2%)
  9. Mineral fuels including oil: $3.2 billion (1.9%)
  10. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $3.1 billion (1.9%)

Toys and games were the fastest-growing among the top 10 export categories, up 107.6% for the 7-year period starting in 2009.

In second place for improving Czechian export sales were furniture, bedding, lighting, signs and prefab buildings which rose 77.1%.

Czech-made vehicles posted the third-fastest gain in value at 75.7%.

There was only one declining product category, namely exports under the mineral fuels including oil category which depreciated by -22.3% from 2009 to 2016. That decline was led by decreases in exported Czechian electricity, coke and semi-coke.

Advantages

The following types of Czech product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. In a nutshell, net exports is the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.

Overall, Czech Republic generated an overall trade surplus of $20.6 billion in 2016 up by 156.8% from $8 billion during 2009.

  1. Vehicles: US$19.1 billion (Up by 74.4% since 2009)
  2. Machinery including computers: $5.3 billion (Up by 40.8%)
  3. Electrical machinery, equipment: $2.1 billion (Up by 18.2%)
  4. Articles of iron or steel: $2 billion (Up by 12.4%)
  5. Furniture, bedding, lighting , signs, prefab buildings: $1.9 billion (Up by 69.8%)
  6. Toys, games: $1.7 billion (Up by 157.1%)
  7. Rubber, rubber articles: $1.1 billion (Up by 50.4%)
  8. Wood: $1 billion (Up by 22%)
  9. Glass: $922.9 million (Up by 0.9%)
  10. Railways, streetcars: $540.6 million (Down by -15.4%)

Czech Republic has highly positive net exports in the international trade of automobiles. In turn, these cashflows indicate Czech Republic’s strong competitive advantages under the vehicles product category.

Opportunities

Below are exports from Czech Republic that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Czech Republic’s goods trail Czech importer spending on foreign products.

  1. Mineral fuels including oil: -US$3.6 billion (Down by -35.9% since 2009)
  2. Plastics, plastic articles: -$2.6 billion (Up by 91.4%)
  3. Pharmaceuticals: -$1.8 billion (Down by -25.7%)
  4. Iron, steel: -$1.6 billion (Up by 80.2%)
  5. Other chemical goods: -$919.8 million (Up by 80.6%)
  6. Meat: -$834.3 million (Up by 29.3%)
  7. Copper: -$707.4 million (Up by 143.7%)
  8. Aluminum: -$583.2 million (Up by 44.6%)
  9. Fruits, nuts: -$546.6 million (Up by 19.1%)
  10. Paper, paper items: -$487.8 million (Up by 48.1%)

Czech Republic has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for oil, encompassing both crude and refined oils as well as petroleum gases.

These cashflow deficiencies clearly indicate Czech Republic’s competitive disadvantages in the international energy market, but also represent key opportunities for Czech Republic to improve its position in the global economy through focused innovations.

Companies

Czech Export Companies

Only one Czech company made the Forbes 2015 Global 2000 rankings: CEZ Group (electric utilities) coming in at number 315.

Wikipedia lists other large Czech companies. A selected sample of these companies appears below.

  • Škoda Auto A.S. (automobiles)
  • Agrofert, A.S. (conglomerate)
  • RWE Supply & Trading CZ, A.S. (oil, gas)
  • Unipetrol, A.S. (chemicals)
  • ČEPRO, A.S. (oil, gas)
  • Barum Continental Spol. S R.O. (tires)
  • Continental Automotive Czech Republic S.R.O. (auto parts)
  • Finitrading, A.S. (metallurgy)