FOREIGN TRADE OF THE PEOPLE'S DEMOCRACIES, 1938 - 1948

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
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• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 25, 2011
• Sequence Number: 547
• Publication Date: August 1, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLFSS', - ' `~ CONFIDENTIAL
ULI4, i'AL INTELLIGENCE AGENC(
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD
SUBJECT
HOW
PUBLISHED
WHERE
PUBLISHED
DATE
PUBLISHED
LANGUAGE
Economic - Foreign trade
Monthly periodical
Wa?=saw
Aug 1949
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL OFFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES WITHIN THE MEANING OF ESPIONAGE ACT EO
U. S. C.. SI AND Si. AS ANEROID. ITS TRANSMISSION OR THE REVELATION
RD PE' AN,
UNAUTH
NIBITE CO FT TLAW. I REPRODUCTION OF THIS FORM ISI PRONISRITED IS PRO
DATE OF 1946 1948
INFORMATION
DATE DIST. 1951
NO. OF PAGES to
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
SOURCE Gospodarka Planowa, Vol IV, No 8, 1949.
FOREIGN TRADE OF THE PEOPLE'S DEMOCRACIES, 1938 - 1948
In 1938, Denmark's foreign trade was 183 dollars per capita, Switzerland's
160 dollars, Belgium's 146, Great Britain's 122, France's 74, and Czechoslo-
vakia's 44 dollars, while Hungary's was only 30 dollars, Bulgaria's 20,'Ru-
mania's 19, and Poland's bz.rely 13.5 dollars.
STATE
ARMY
CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL
NSRB DISTRIBUTION
FBI I _L_
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In 1938, the
share in wo
rld t
raLLe o
f c
ountries now kn
own as people'
trade (e
s
xclu
d-
democracies was barely 3.8 percent, and their share in Eur
opean
ing the USSR) was
less th
an 7.3 percent.
In 1946, the
dollar
valu
e of
the fo
re
ign trade of the
Telz demo
peop~4
of trade fl
crac
uctu
ies
ated
was only about half that
for
1938, while
t
he physical volu
rts
f
me
and imports.
expo
between 30 and 40 percent of the prewar volume o
The increase in the
value of foreign trade of the peo
ple's democrac
nned ec
l
f
ies
onom
y
in postwar years, beginning in 1947 with the introduction
a
o
p
,
is indicated in Table 1 (i
n
roun
d figure
s),
Table 1, Value o
f
Fore
(in
ign Trad
millions
e of the Per-ile's
of dollars)
Democracies
d Cz
ec
hosl
ovakia
Hungary Bulgaria R
uman
ia
Polan
V
d
lu
e
I
dex
ex Value
Value In
Val
Ind
ue
Index
Year
a
ex
Value In
n
d
)
1938
469 --
64
7 --
274 -- 125
-- 2
86 --
1946
275 100
49
1 100
77 100 114
loo -
- --
1947
578 210 1
,15
1 234
216 281 159
139
96 --
1948
1,056 383 1
,50
7 307
330 429 --
-- -
- --
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CUNFIDENTI;
CONFIDENTIAL
Under planned economy, their foreign trade in 1948 was almost four times
that of 1946. Nc other European countries showed such a large percentage of
increase in their postwar foreign trade, as is seen by comparing the foreign
trade indexes given below with those in Table I.
Index of Foreign Trade
(1946=ioo)
1947 1948
Great Britain
132
164
Belgium
179
197
Denmark
121
137
Netherlands
194
237
Norway
168
165
Table 2 shows the share of people's democracies in European trade and
world trade in round figures:
Table 2.
Dollar Value of Foreign Trade of People's Democracies and
Percentage Share in World and European Trade
Y
Value
(million
dollars
Percent of
World Trade
Per
Eur
Tra
cent of
opean
de
ear
1938
1,793
3.80
7
.28
1946
957*
2..49
3
.71
1947
2,300
2.53
6
.00
1948
ca 3,140*
--
7.50
Excluding Rumania
Postwar import and export figures for the people's democracies are given
in the table below.
Table 3. Value of imports and Exports
(in millions of dollars)
Poland
Czechoslovakia
Hungary
Bulgaria Rumania
,
Im-
rts
Ex-
orts
Im-
ports
Ex-
ports
Im-
ports
Ex-
ports
Im-
ports
Ex.-
ports
Im-
ports
Ex-
ports
Year
po
p
1938
245
224
292
3555
126
154
58
66
133
153
1946
149
126
204
287
.31
36
62
52
--
1947
333
245
576
575
.126
90
74
85
61
34
1948
528
528
754
753
167
163
--
--
--
--
CONFIDENTIA1
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"!l4Frl-EN
A significant feature of the postwar foreign trade of the people's democ-
racies was the preponderance of imports over exports, while in prewar years
the two were almost equal. By the first half of 1948, imports exceeded ex-
ports by almost 200 million dollars ~ic7. This surplus was covered with
credits from the USSR for the most part, but the people's democracies made a
great effort to cover the constantly increasing need for imports.
It was extremely important to increase the volume of exports. Excellent
results were obtained, especially in 1948. Imports and exports in 1947 and
1948 are expressed below as a percentage of imports and exports in 1946.
1947
1948
Imports
Exports
Imports
Exports
Poland
22L
194
354
419
Czechoslovakia
282
200
369
262
Hungary
401
253
538
453
Bulgaria
119
164
--
In Poland, despite the considerable increase of imports, exports also
increased so that a favorable trade balance was achieved.
The efforts of the people's democracies are directed, above all, toward
increasing their trade relations with the USSB and with one another.
Table 4 shows the percentage of participation and the value of foreign
trade between the people's democracies in the postwar period. (In view of
the diacrepanc,.ej between the statistical data of various countries, pre-
ferred treatment was given to data in the following orders statistical data
of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Trade; Ceskoslovensky Statisticky Zpravodaj;
Gazdasagstatisztikai Tajekoztato; Vneshnyaya Torgovlya.)
CONFIDENTIAL
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PJfl FWENT!"-
'.Cable 4.. Foreign Trade Among the People's Democracies
Poland Czechoslovakia
Percent Value Percent Percent Value Percent
of (million of of (million of
Export dollars) Import Export dollars Import
-1
1946
1947
1948
3.3
6.0
8.2
4.1
14.5
43.2
2.0
2.5
5.4
Czechoslovakia
1946
0.8
2.3
1.6
a
N
1947
0.9
5.2
1.6
1948
7.0
53.2
10.1
v
P4
1946
3.3
1.3
0.8
33.0
11.8
5.7
a
0
1
947
4.1
3.7
1.1
12.7
ll.4
2.0
,
1948
2.4
4.0
0.8
12.6
20.7
2.8
Bulgaria
1946
--
--
--
15.0
7.8
3.8
194,
8.6
7.3
2.2'
21.0
17.8
3.1
1948
--
6.1
1.1
--
11.9
1.6
Rumania
1946
--
0.5
0.4
--
3.8
1.9
1947
1.5
0.5
0.1
14.4
4.9
0.9
1948
--
5.8
1.1
--
29.4
4.0
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FIRENT Iflb
CONFIDENTIA
r
H
Bulgaria
Rum
ania
unga
y
Percent
of
Value
(million
Percent
of
t
Percent
of
Export
Value
(million
dollars)
Percent
of
import
Percent V
of (
Export d
alue percent
million of
ollars Import
$xport
dollars
Impor
4
1
1.8
5.8
0.3
0.4
0.7
0.8
1.0 --
.
4
1
3.5
2.8
1.2
3.1
4.2
0.2
0.5 0.8
.
0.8
4.3
2.7
1.4
7.3
--
1.0
5.5 --
x
2
6
7.6
24.0
2.2
6.2
10.0
1.5
4.3 --
.
8
2
16.0
12.7
2.2
12.3
17.0
1.4
7.9 13.0
to
.
3.0
22-.2
'12.7
2.1
15.5
--
3.1
23.8 --
0,
0
0
1
0.9
1.2
3.6
3.3 5.3
a
.
1.0
1.-
--
2.4
2.3 --
1.1 0.9 0.7
-- 1.6 1.0
9,7 3.3
-- 4.1
2.6 3.8
2.6 --
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1
UU rIGENTIAL
Trade among the people's democracies showed a marked increase in 1947 and
3.948. Poland's participation in the total export increased from 5.8 percent
in 1946 to 9.8 percent in 1947 and to 11.4 percent in 1948; Czechoslovakia's
increased from 7.1 percent to 7.3 percent to 15.2 percent, respectively. Im-
ports for the corresponding years were as follows: Poland, 2.8 percent, 5
percent, and 13.1 percent; and Czechoslovakia 13.4 percent, 8.5 percent, and
13.8 percent.
The volume of imports and exports of the people's democracies in postwar
years is shown in Table 5.
Poland and Czechoslovakia have already exceeded their prewar volume of
imports, which indicates that their economies are absorbing a greater volume
of essential goods than in 1938.
Table 5.- Index of Postwar Imports.and Exports of People's Democracies
Poland
Czechoslovakia
.
Hungary
Bulgaria
(1938 =
t
100)
ort
E
(1937 s
Import
100)
Export
(1937
Import
- 100)
Export
(1939 =
Import
100)
Export
Year
Impor
xp
1946
--
38
35
26
14
13
58
34
1947
105
55
77
56
44
23
71
48
lst half
1948
147
84
107
70
54
31
89
70
There have been many basic changes in the categories of goods imported
and exported by the people's democracies since the war. With the vast devas-
tation in agriculture, the percentage of exports of food commodities has greatly
decreased.
The percentage participation of commodity groups in foreign trade in post-
war years is shown in Tables 6 and 7.
Table 6.
Percentage Breakdown of Imports by Commodity Groups
Poland
i:
cuoalov kia
Hungary
Rumania
?
1st Half
1st Half
Item
1938
1947
1948
1938
1947
1948
1938
1947
1938
1947
Raw materials
and semi-
finished
products
51.2
54.2
57.4
61.7
57-3
44.5
?57.6
10.8
21.7
35.9
Food "'
12.6
18.3
20.6
13.3
18.9
36.0
7.3
65.6
5.0
39.5
Finished
products
36.2
27.5
22.0
25.2
23.8
19.5
35.1
23.6
72.9
24.6
_6_
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Table 7 Percentage Breakdown of Exports by Commodity Groups
Item
1938
1947
Raw materials
and semi-
f.nished
products
51.1
66.4
Food
34.1
12 6
F:n.hed
products
14,8
21 0
lst Half
1st Half
4
1948
1938
1947
1948
1938
1947
1938
7
19
63
9
30.5
15.0
14.3
23.5
33 2
62.9
55 6
15.1
9.5
11.0
2.2
50.8
26.8
34.9
15.8
21 0
60.0
74