In December, Sweden's foreign trade balance shifted from the prior year's deficit to a surplus, primarily due to a more rapid decline in imports compared to exports, according to data from Statistics Sweden released recently.
Last December, the trade balance had a surplus of SEK 3.8 billion as opposed to a deficit of SEK 2.3 billion in the same month the previous year.
In November, the trade balance reported a surplus of SEK 12.1 billion.
Year on year, exports increased by 6.0 percent, while there was a 10.0 percent drop in imports.
In December, the non-EU trade balance logged a surplus of SEK 23.8 billion, however, the trade balance with the EU disclosed a deficit of SEK 20.0 billion.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, December's trade surplus was the same as the prior month, coming in at SEK 11.1 billion.
In 2023, the total trade surplus hit SEK 50.8 billion, in contrast to the deficit of SEK 44.9 billion in 2022. While exports saw an increase of 5.0 percent, the imports held steady.
