Sweden’s merchandise trade surplus dropped more-than-expected in July, as imports rose at a faster pace than exports, figures from Statistics Sweden showed Wednesday.
The trade surplus fell to SEK 0.3 billion in July from SEK 7.7 billion in the previous month, which was revised down from SEK 8.4 billion initially reported.
Economists had expected a SEK 4 billion surplus for the month. In the same period of last year, surplus was SEK 1.3 billion.
This is the smallest surplus since October 2014, when the figure was SEK 0.1 billion. In November and December of 2014, the country logged trade deficits.
Exports rose 2 percent annually in July to SEK 89.4 billion, and imports increased by 4 percent to SEK 89.1 billion.
The non-EU trade surplus was SEK 9.4 billion in July, while EU trade resulted in a deficit of SEK 9.1 billion.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the trade surplus declined to SEK 1.3 billion from SEK 2.1 billion in the previous month.
For the January to July period, the trade surplus increased to SEK 24.3 billion from SEK 15.7 billion in the same period of last year. Exports grew by 5 percent annually and imports rose by 4 percent.
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