Goods selling out of Nicaragua increased 29.73 percent during the first seven months of this year, compared with the same period in 2007, the government's Export Processing Center (CETREX) reported.

Exports from January to July grossed $970.5 million. The figure for the first seven months of 2007 was $748.1 million, CETREX said in its monthly report.

Coffee continues to top the export list, pulling in $200.1 million in through July 2008 – a 59 percent climb up from last year's total. Nicaragua's No. 2 product, beef, grossed $117 million, up just 6 percent from the first seven months of 2007.

The export office attributes the increase in dollars to rising world prices for beans, nuts, coffee, beverages, milk products and a host of other products.

CETREX also points to the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States, CAFTA.