In recent data from Statistics Sweden, it is observed that the country's foreign trade surplus has seen a significant decline in March of this year compared to the same time last year due to a faster drop in export than imports. The trade surplus decreased to SEK 4.8 billion in March from SEK 10.6 billion in the corresponding month of the previous year. In February, the surplus stood at SEK 10.9 billion.
In March, exports experienced a steep plunge, down by 11.0% from last year, while imports also faced a decrease, sliding down by 8.1%. Also noteworthy is the non-EU trade balance showed a surplus of SEK 23.0 billion in March, while the trade balance with the EU recorded a deficit of SEK 18.2 billion.
In terms of seasonality, there was a slightly adjusted drop in the trade surplus, which equalled SEK 3.4 billion in March, as opposed to SEK 4.0 billion in the preceding month. Additionally, separate official data revealed household lending rates to be rising at an accelerated speed - 0.6% annually in March compared to a 0.4% rise witnessed in the previous month.
