Swedish Trade Surplus Decreases in 1st Half

Sweden's trade surplus decreased to 67 billions kronor (about 10.6 billion U.S. dollars) for the period January-June 2008 from 70 billion kronor (about 11.1 billion U.S. dollars) for the same period in 2007, Statistics Sweden (SCB) said on Monday.

The value of Swedish exports for the first half year amounted to 625 billion kronor, 10 percent more than the same period in the last year, while imports increased by 12 percent, amounting to 558 billion kronor, SCB said in a statement.

The price of oil further raised the rate of increase for imports that climbed 14 percent, counted in value, during the second quarter, SCB added.

EU-27 is the biggest foreign trade market for Sweden. Exports to these countries during January-June 2008 increased by 9 percent and imports increased by 10 percent at the same time, according to the agency.

Source: CRIEnglish