Norway's trade surplus decreased sharply in August compared to the previous year as exports plunged faster than imports, data from Statistics Norway showed on Friday.
The trade surplus shrank to NOK 61.4 billion in August from NOK 230.3 billion in the same month last year. In July, the surplus was NOK 61.6 billion.
Exports slumped 56.2 percent annually in August, while imports declined at a slower rate of 12.3 percent.
The overseas demand for ships and oil platforms showed a huge fall of 100.0 percent in August compared to last year, which largely affected overall exports. Similarly, natural gas exports tumbled by 80.3 percent.
Data showed that mainland exports decreased 12.7 percent annually in August.
On a monthly basis, both exports and imports fell by 5.2 percent and 9.9 percent, respectively, in August.
The mainland trade logged a deficit of NOK 22.1 billion in August, up from NOK 19.1 billion in July.
