A landlocked central European nation that shares its western border with economic powerhouse Germany, the Czech Republic shipped US$241.5 billion worth of goods around the world in 2022.

That dollar amount reflects a 19.2% increase compared to $202.5 billion during 2018.

Year over year, the overall value of Czechia’s exported products rose 6.3% from $227.2 billion in 2021.

Strategically located in central Europe, the Czech Republic is also called Czechia–its officially approved short name since May 2016.

Based on the average exchange rate for 2022, the Czech koruna depreciated by -7.5% against the US dollar since 2018 and fell -7.7% from 2021 to 2022. Czech Republic’s weaker local currency makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers during 2022.

Best Customers for Czechia’s Exports

The latest available country-specific data shows that almost four-fifths (79.1%) of products exported from the Czech Republic were bought by importers in: Germany (32.7% of Czechia’s total), Slovakia (8.3%), Poland (7%), France (4.6%), Austria (4.4%), Italy (4.1%), Netherlands (3.6%), United Kingdom (also 3.6%), Hungary (3.4%), Spain (2.6%), United States of America (2.5%) and Belgium (2.2%).

From a continental perspective, 89.1% of the Czech Republic’s exports by value was delivered to fellow European countries while 6.2% was sold to Asian importers. Czechia shipped another 3.1% worth of goods to North American.

Tinier percentages went to Africa (0.9%), Latin America (0.4%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.3%) led by Australia and New Zealand.

The Czech Republic’s population was 10.5 million people in 2022. Therefore, its total $241.5 billion in 2022 exports translates to roughly $23,000 for every resident in the central European country. That per-capita metric exceeds the average $21,100 for 2021.

Czech Republic’s Top 10 Exports

The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Czech global shipments during 2022. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from the Czech Republic.

1. Electrical machinery, equipment: US$47.9 billion (19.8% of total exports)
2. Machinery including computers: $42.7 billion (17.7%)
3. Vehicles: $42.5 billion (17.6%)
4. Mineral fuels including oil: $8.6 billion (3.6%)
5. Plastics, plastic articles: $8.5 billion (3.5%)
6. Articles of iron or steel: $8.4 billion (3.5%)
7. Iron, steel: $6 billion (2.5%)
8. Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefabricated buildings: $5.7 billion (2.4%)
9. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $5.2 billion (2.1%)
10. Rubber, rubber articles: $4.4 billion (1.8%)

Czech Republic’s top 10 exports accounted for three-quarters (74.6%) of the overall value of its global shipments.

Mineral fuels including oil was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 70.1% from 2021 to 2022. The mineral fuels-related category was propelled by Czechia’s higher international sales of electrical energy, refined petroleum oils, coke or semi-coke, and coal.

In second place for improving export sales was the electrical machinery and equipment product category, which was up by 13.5%.

Czech Republic’s shipments of optical, technical and medical apparatus posted the third-fastest gain in value thanks to an 8% year-over-year rise.

The leading drop among Czech Republic’s top 10 export categories was incurred by the furniture, bedding, lighting, signs and prefabricated buildings category via a -1.2% reduction.

The above listed product categories are at the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level.

At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, the Czech Republic’s most valuable exported products were cars (10.5% of Czechia’s global total), phone devices including smartphones (6.6%), automobile parts or accessories (6%), computers including optical readers (5.9%), electrical energy (2.1%), insulated wire or cable (1.7%), lower-voltage switches or fuses (1.6%), models, puzzles and miscellaneous toys (1.3%), electric storage batteries (also 1.3%), and seats other than barber and dentist chairs (1.2%).

Products Generating Trading Surpluses for Czechia

Czechia posted an overall $5.2 billion trade surplus in 2022, down -64.5% from $14.7 billion in black ink one year earlier in 2021.

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 represent 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.

1. Vehicles: US$22.8 billion (Up by 4.4% since 2021)
2. Machinery including computers: $7.2 billion (Up by 21.3%)
3. Articles of iron or steel: $2.5 billion (Up by 13.3%)
4. Wood: $2.1 billion (Down by -9.8%)
5. Toys, games: $2.1 billion (Down by -7.7%)
6. Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefabricated buildings: $1.7 billion (Down by -2.6%)
7. Rubber, rubber articles: $1.4 billion (Up by 6.6%)
8. Glass: $1.3 billion (Up by 18%)
9. Miscellaneous manufactured articles: $963.6 million (Up by 8.9%)
10. Cereals: $835.5 million (Up by 22.8%)

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

Products Causing Trading Deficits for Czechia

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

1. Mineral fuels including oil: -US$13.5 billion (Up by 92.3% since 2021)
2. Pharmaceuticals: -$3.3 billion (Down by -6%)
3. Electrical machinery, equipment: -$3.2 billion (Up by 20502.4%)
4. Iron, steel: -$3.2 billion (Up by 27.8%)
5. Plastics, plastic articles: -$2.9 billion (Up by 6.4%)
6. Other chemical goods: -$1.27 billion (Down by -29.7%)
7. Meat: -$1.24 billion (Up by 14.9%)
8. Copper: -$1.24 billion (Up by 5.3%)
9. Aluminum: -$1.24 billion (Up by 35.2%)
10. Inorganic chemicals: -$1.1 billion (Up by 143.2%)

Czechia has highly negative net exports for petroleum oils and gases.

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

Czech Republic’s Export Companies

Only one Czech company made the Forbes Global 2000 rankings: CEZ Group (electric utilities).

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

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

 

In macroeconomic terms, Czechia’s total exported goods represent 46.9% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2022 ($514.7 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 46.9% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2022 compares to 48.3% one year earlier. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for the Czech Republic’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.

Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Czechia’s unemployment rate averaged 2.5% in 2022, down from an average 2.82% for 2021 according to the International Monetary Fund.

Czech Republic’s capital city is Prague.

See also Czech Republic’s Top Trading Partners and Czech Republic’s Top 10 Imports

Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles. Accessed on April 9, 2023

Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on April 9, 2023

International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on April 9, 2023

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on April 9, 2023

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on April 9, 2023

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on April 9, 2023

Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on April 9, 2023

Wikipedia, List of Companies of the Czech Republic. Accessed on April 9, 2023

Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on April 9, 2023

World’s Capital Cities, Capital Facts for Prague, Czech Republic. Accessed on April 9, 2023