Foreign trade in services, quarter 3 2025
Strong imports weaken services trade balance
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2025-12-02 8.00
Sweden’s exports and imports of services both continued to grow in value. The increase is larger in imports, resulting in a weakened services trade balance.
Larger increases in imports of services
The value of both exports and imports of services continued to grow during the third quarter of 2025. Exports of services increased by 5 percent, compared to the same quarter last year, while imports increased by 10 percent.
Sweden’s exports of services were valued at SEK 331 billion in the third quarter of 2025, while imports were valued at SEK 365 billion. This resulted in a deficit of SEK 34 billion. The corresponding figure for the same quarter last year was a deficit of SEK 15 billion.
The services trade is measured in Swedish krona (SEK) and reported in current prices, which means no adjustments have been made for exchange rate effects or inflation.
Updated service item designations
In connection with this publication, the designations of certain service items have been updated. The content remain unchanged.
Travels peak during the third quarters
The service item travels (expenditure on travel abroad) typically reaches its highest levels in the third quarter of each year. This is largely due to the fact that two summer holiday months fall within this period. It is therefore no coincidence that travels recorded a strong quarter. Travels also rose compared the third quarter last year, with exports increasing by 8 percent and imports increasing by 3 percent.
On the export side, the largest increase by value was however recorded in the aggregate other business services. This was mainly driven by the sub-item other business services not included elsewhere. On the import side, the largest increase by value was recorded within the service item charges for the use of intellectual property.
| Exports | Imports | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Share in % | Change in % | Share in % | Change in % | ||||||
| 2025Q3 | 2024Q3 | 2025Q3 | 2025Q3/2024Q3 | 2025Q3 | 2024Q3 | 2025Q3 | 2025Q3/2024Q3 | ||
| Total | 331 189 | 316 178 | 100.0 | 4.7 | 365 043 | 331 062 | 100.0 | 10.3 | |
| Manufacturing services | 7 832 | 9 429 | 2.4 | ‑16.9 | 9 587 | 8 149 | 2.6 | 17.6 | |
| Maintenance and repair services | 1 160 | 1 473 | 0.4 | ‑21.2 | 6 972 | 5 415 | 1.9 | 28.8 | |
| Transport sevices | 37 742 | 38 228 | 11.4 | ‑1.3 | 40 986 | 39 941 | 11.2 | 2.6 | |
| Travel | 40 928 | 37 871 | 12.4 | 8.1 | 47 269 | 45 769 | 12.9 | 3.3 | |
| Construction | 3 249 | 2 066 | 1.0 | 57.3 | 6 854 | 5 081 | 1.9 | 34.9 | |
| Insurance and pension services | 1 601 | 2 302 | 0.5 | ‑30.5 | 1 591 | 1 614 | 0.4 | ‑1.4 | |
| Financial services | 14 749 | 13 560 | 4.5 | 8.8 | 6 259 | 5 996 | 1.7 | 4.4 | |
| Charges for the use of intellectual property | 27 903 | 30 301 | 8.4 | ‑7.9 | 69 369 | 49 753 | 19.0 | 39.4 | |
| Telecommunications, computer, and information services | 62 708 | 61 235 | 18.9 | 2.4 | 47 120 | 45 797 | 12.9 | 2.9 | |
| Other business services | 100 613 | 88 312 | 30.4 | 13.9 | 121 330 | 116 236 | 33.2 | 4.4 | |
| Personal, cultural, and recreational services | 30 298 | 28 580 | 9.1 | 6.0 | 6 836 | 6 543 | 1.9 | 4.5 | |
| Government goods and services | 2 406 | 2 822 | 0.7 | ‑14.7 | 870 | 767 | 0.2 | 13.4 | |
Revisions
Quarter 2 2025 has been revised in accordance with the regular revision schedule. Exports of services were revised up by SEK 1.9 billion, while imports were revised up by SEK 3.9 billion. The net was thus revised down by SEK 2 billion.
Foreign trade in services data are revised according to a regular schedule. In connection with the publication of quarter 1 to 3, the preceding quarter is revised. In connection with the publication of quarter 4, the seven previous quarters are revised. If necessary, revisions may also be made outside the regular schedule. Revisions are mainly due to late submissions or corrected information from respondents, but may also result from changes in statistical models.
The data should be regarded as preliminary until it is revised in line with the regular revision schedule.
Definitions and explanations
What is foreign trade in services?
The statistics on foreign trade in services is a presentation of all Swedish transactions related to trade in services with the rest of the world. These statistics are reported quarterly and form the basis for both the National Accounts and the current account in Balance of Payments. The section More information contains an explanation on why trade in services in the National Accounts and the Balance of Payments sometimes differ from this statistic.
Next publishing will be
2026-03-04, 08:00.
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.