Exports by the country’s small and medium-sized businesses surged to a record high in the third quarter on the back of strong sales of beauty products and used cars. 

According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on Sunday, shipments by small and medium-sized companies reached a record 30-point-five billion dollars in the July-September period, up eleven-point-six percent from a year earlier.

Cumulative exports for the first nine months of the year rose by five-point-eight percent year-on-year to a record 87-point-one billion dollars, while the number of small and midsize exporters increased three percent to 89-thousand-418, the highest figure ever.

The third-quarter growth was driven by shipments of used cars and cosmetics, which jumped 80 percent year-on-year to two-point-62 billion dollars and 28 percent to two-point-21 billion dollars, respectively.

Exports of cosmetics to the United States reached 490 million dollars in the third quarter, the highest quarterly figure ever. 

Growth in cosmetics exports was highest for Poland, with an increase of 69 percent during the period, followed by Britain with 45-point-six percent and the United Arab Emirates with 43-point-one percent.