Swedish August Trade Surplus SEK6.1B

he following is a press release from Statistiska Centralbyran, or SCB, the Swedish central government authority for official statistics.

STOCKHOLM -- Foreign trade resulted in a net trade surplus of SEK6.1 billion in August 2009 according to preliminary calculations. The surplus for August 2008 was SEK0.9 billion.

The value of exports in August 2009 amounted to SEK73.8 billion, while imports were valued at SEK67.7 billion. Compared to August 2008, exports decreased by 14% in value, while imports decreased by 20%.

Trade with countries outside the EU resulted in a surplus of SEK8.3 billion, while the EU trade resulted in a deficit of 2.2 billion.

During January - August 2009 the value of exports has decreased by 19% , while imports have decreased by 21% in value compared to the corresponding period one year ago. Exports amounted to SEK650.6 billion, and imports were valued at SEK574.6 billion, resulting in a net trade surplus of SEK76.0 billion for January - August 2009. The corresponding surplus figure for these months in 2008 was SEK73.3 billion.