Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - The trade surplus of Kazakhstan, the biggest economy in Central Asia, rose 72 percent in 2011 to $50 billion, according to a report released Wednesday by the country’s State Statistics Agency.

That figure compares with a trade surplus of $29.1 billion in 2010, it said.

Oil and metals led the 48 percent surge in exports to $88.1 billion last year. The country ranks ninth in the world for proven crude reserves and is the largest exporter of uranium.

Kazakhstan secured 18.5 percent of its export revenues from China, its largest market. Sales to Italy came second, with 17.1 percent, ahead of Russia with 8.5 percent.

The Netherlands and France tailed behind at 7.5 percent and 6.1 percent of the export total.

The State Statistics Agency said Kazakhstan’s imports were up 25 percent to $38 billion last year as compared with 2010.

Some 42.8 percent of the country’s imports were provided by Russian companies. China came a distant second by 13.2 percent of the import pie.

Germany, Ukraine, and the United States followed up by providing 5.5 percent, 4.6 percent, and 4.5 percent of the country’s imports.

Kazakhstan has an economy approaching $150 billion in size.    

http://www.universalnewswires.com