BUDAPEST, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Hungarian trade surplus fell in 2017 to 8.2 billion euros, after reaching a record 9.9 billion euros in 2016, according to estimate of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) released here on Friday.

Exports, mainly in the automotive sector, rose 8.4 percent to 100.7 billion euros, while imports rose 11.1 percent to 92.5 billion euros, according to KSH.

According to these preliminary figures, the Hungarian trade surplus has returned to a level closer to that recorded in 2015, when it reached 8.6 billion euros.

In December, the surplus amounted to 502 million euros, against 490 million a year earlier, with exports rising by 2.5 percent to almost 7.5 billion euros and an identical increase in imports to nearly 7 billion euros.

"The numbers are in line with our expectations," Orsolya Nyeste, senior analyst of Erste Bank Hungary, said in a statement following the publication of the report by KSH. "We expect the same tendencies in foreign trade to continue in 2018," she added.

"The imports will continue to rise above the level of exports, which will narrow the surplus, but only by a small margin," she added.

The details of the 2017 trade surplus figures will be published on March 2, 2018.