Moldova continues to import significantly more food than it exports, but the gap between the two flows is rapidly narrowing. In the first half of 2026, food exports grew by 27.6%, from 306.2 million to 390.7 million euros. Imports increased by only 1.7%, from 591.7 million to 601.8 million euros. As a result, the trade deficit decreased from 285.5 million to 211.1 million euros—a reduction of 74.4 million euros, or 26%.
An even more noticeable change can be seen in the export-to-import coverage ratio. While in January–June 2025, every 100 euros of imported food was covered by about 52 euros of exports, a year later that figure had risen to nearly 65 euros.
However, this differs from the overall picture of foreign trade. In the first half of 2026, Moldova's total merchandise exports grew by 12.5%: from 1.47 billion to 1.65 billion euros, while imports rose by 6.5%: from 4.68 billion to 4.99 billion euros. The overall trade deficit increased by 3.7% during this period: from 3.22 billion to 3.34 billion euros.
Thus, food turned out to be one of the segments where performance was noticeably better than the overall trend: exports in this sector grew more than twice as fast as the country's total exports, while imports grew nearly four times slower than total imports.
However, this improvement is driven by a very narrow export base. In January–June 2026, grains and grain-based products accounted for 176.6 million euros, or 45.2% of total export revenue in this group. Another 161.1 million euros, or 41.2%, came from fruits and vegetables. Together, these two categories accounted for 337.7 million euros, or about 86.4% of Moldova's food exports.
Exports of grains and grain-based products grew particularly rapidly: approximately 1.6 times compared to the first half of 2025. Shipments of fruits and vegetables increased by 8.5%. These sectors were the main drivers behind the improvement in the food trade balance.
At the same time, this structure highlights the limitations of current growth. A significant portion of export revenue comes from agricultural products, whereas increasing value added requires further domestic processing. However, the available foreign trade data, broken down by broad commodity groups, does not allow us to determine exactly how much of these 337.7 million euros is attributable to raw materials and how much to processed products.
Imports are distributed across a significantly larger number of product groups. Vegetables and fruits remained the largest category in the first half of 2026: 163.4 million euros, or 27.2% of total food imports. Dairy products and eggs accounted for approximately 82 million euros, or 13.6%; grains and grain products, 73.3 million euros, or 12.2%; and various food products and preparations, 66.2 million euros, or 11%. Fish and seafood imports totaled 51.9 million euros, coffee, tea, cocoa, and spices—51.5 million euros, accounting for approximately 8.6% of food imports each—and meat and meat products—45.2 million euros, or 7.5%.
However, the nearly unchanged total volume of imports masks varying trends in individual markets. Imports of fruits and vegetables increased by only 0.2% compared to the first half of 2025—from 163.1 million to 163.4 million euros. Imports of dairy products and eggs rose by 1.4%—from 80.8 million to 82 million euros; imports of grains and grain products increased by 6.2%, from 69 million to 73.3 million euros, while imports of meat and meat products rose by 6.5%, from 42.4 million to 45.2 million euros.
Herewith, imports of fish and seafood fell by 5.4%—from 54.9 million to 51.9 million euros—while imports of sugar, sugar products, and honey dropped by 25.7%: from 22.3 million to 16.6 million euros. Imports of live animals increased by 52.8%, from 10.1 million to 15.4 million euros; however, due to the relatively small volume of this category, its impact on the overall result is limited.
The results of the first half of the year cannot be automatically extrapolated to the entire year of 2026. More than 86% of food exports consist of grains and grain-based products, vegetables, and fruits—commodity groups whose supply depends, among other factors, on the agricultural cycle and crop yields. A comparison of January–June 2026 with the same period in 2025 shows a significant improvement in the balance, but its sustainability can only be assessed based on the results for the full year.
However, the issue is not limited to export volumes. It is also important for the economy to determine what proportion of agricultural output is processed domestically and exported with higher added value. // 11.09.2026 – InfoMarket.