Exports and imports of goods, January–December 2018, in current prices

Stronger imports than exports of goods

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2019-02-27 9.30

In the period January–December 2018, Swedish exports of goods increased 10 percent and imports of goods increased 12 percent in current prices compared with the same period last year.

In the period January–December 2018, the value of Swedish exports amounted to SEK 1 442 billion. This is an increase of 10 percent compared with the same period last year. At the same time, imports of goods were up by 12 percent and amounted to SEK 1 478 billion. This resulted in a net trade deficit of SEK 36 billion. In the same period in 2017, there was a net trade deficit that amounted to SEK 11 billion.

The value of imports of goods were larger than exports of goods in all quarters in 2018. In the fourth quarter, exports of goods were up by 11 percent and imports of goods by 12 percent compared with the same period last year. In terms of value, the fourth quarter was largest for both exports and imports. In volume (value in constant prices), exports increased by 3 percent and imports increased by 4 percent in the fourth quarter.

Detailed information for January–December 2018

Exports of goods to Norway rose 14 percent

Sweden’s exports of goods to the EU 28 were up by 11 percent, and imports from there rose by 10 percent compared with the same period last year. Exports to the euro countries increased by 12 percent and imports from there increased by 10 percent. Among the EU countries, exports to Germany were up by 10 percent, to Denmark by 12 percent, and to the United Kingdom by 1 percent. Imports from Germany rose by 7 percent, from Denmark by 10 percent and from the United Kingdom by 9 percent.

Exports to other European countries rose by 11 percent and imports from there rose by 17 percent. Exports to Norway rose by 14 percent, and imports from there were up by 20 percent. Exports to Russia were up by 7 percent, and imports from there rose by 25 percent.

Exports to Asia increased by 8 percent and imports from there rose by 11 percent. Exports to China increased by 15 percent, and imports from there were up by 12 percent.

Exports to the United States increased by 9 percent, and imports from there increased by 25 percent.

Exports of passenger cars rose 32 percent

Exports of machinery and transport equipment increased by 11 percent. Within this product area, exports of passenger cars increased by 32 percent. Exports of minerals were up by 8 percent. Exports of wood and paper products rose by 9 percent and mineral fuels and electric current rose by 27 percent. Exports of chemicals and rubber products were up by 8 percent. Within the other products area, food, beverages and tobacco increased by 10 percent.

Imports of crude petroleum oils rose 39 percent

Imports of machinery and transport equipment increased by 10 percent. Within this product area, electronics/telecommunication were up by 12 percent while passenger cars fell by 3 percent. Imports of minerals rose by 15 percent. Imports of wood and paper products rose by 17 percent and chemicals and rubber products rose by 11 percent. Mineral fuels and electric current increased by 33 percent. Within this product area, crude petroleum oils rose by 39 percent. Imports of other products increased by 7 percent.

	Exports				Imports
Region	Value January- December		Share in %	Change in %	Value January- December		Share in %	Change in %
	2018	2017	2018	2018/2017	2018	2017	2018	2018/2017
Total	1 441 825	1 304 824	100.0	10	1 478 061	1 315 630	100.0	12
Europe	1 070 668	962 079	74.3	11	1 238 639	1 112 066	83.8	11
EU-28	857 862	771 182	59.5	11	1 038 069	940 931	70.2	10
EMU-19	598 102	533 324	41.5	12	755 195	689 089	51.1	10
Other European countries	212 807	190 897	14.8	11	200 570	171 135	13.6	17
Africa	27 728	27 457	1.9	1	28 530	16 829	1.9	70
North Africa	14 177	13 880	1.0	2	6 893	3 357	0.5	105
West Africa	2 779	3 510	0.2	-21	18 504	10 457	1.3	77
Central, East and Southern Africa	10 771	10 068	0.7	7	3 133	3 014	0.2	4
America	137 745	128 649	9.6	7	57 552	48 488	3.9	19
North America	110 102	101 051	7.6	9	42 920	35 434	2.9	21
Central and South America	27 643	27 599	1.9	0	14 632	13 054	1.0	12
Asia	180 288	166 231	12.5	8	149 429	134 398	10.1	11
Middle- and Near East	27 511	30 358	1.9	-9	7 183	5 686	0.5	26
Other countries in Asia	152 777	135 873	10.6	12	142 246	128 712	9.6	11
Oceania and Antarctica	19 338	16 873	1.3	15	3 583	3 111	0.2	15

	Exports
	Value January-December		Share in %	Change in %
Commodity group according to SITC	2018	2017	2018	2018/2017
Total	1 441 825	1 304 824	100.0	10
Wood and paper products	144 493	132 071	10.0	9
Wood	30 975	28 963	2.1	7
Pulp and waste paper	25 020	19 394	1.7	29
Paper, paperproducts	82 056	77 393	5.7	6
Minerals	147 111	135 977	10.2	8
Iron ore and concentrates	20 737	19 465	1.4	7
Iron and steel	66 165	60 244	4.6	10
Non-ferrous metals	28 719	26 605	2.0	8
Chemicals, rubber products	185 175	171 050	12.8	8
Organic/inorganic chemicals	19 432	19 002	1.3	2
Pharmaceuticals products	82 188	74 069	5.7	11
Plastics	34 284	32 931	2.4	4
Mineral fuels, electric current	115 180	90 805	8.0	27
Petroleum products	98 070	75 963	6.8	29
Machinery, transport equipment	658 655	595 217	45.7	11
Manufactures of metals	38 679	35 699	2.7	8
Industrial machinery	215 251	196 386	14.9	10
Electronics, telecommunication	149 269	140 447	10.4	6
Road vehicles	214 376	184 371	14.9	16
Passenger cars	101 549	77 049	7.0	32
Lorries, trucks^[1]	35 085	32 968	2.4	6
Parts, accessories	63 382	62 043	4.4	2
Other transport equipment	8 546	6 919	0.6	24
Instruments, photo/optical products	32 533	31 396	2.3	4
Other products	191 210	179 703	13.3	6
Food, beverages, tobacco	91 742	83 623	6.4	10
Textiles, clothing, footwear	32 760	30 662	2.3	7
Furniture	18 751	17 951	1.3	4

[1] Includes road tractors for semi-trailers

	Imports
	Value January-December		Share in %	Change in %
Commodity group according to SITC	2018	2017	2018	2018/2017
Total	1 478 061	1 315 630	100.0	12
Wood and paper products	43 156	36 997	2.9	17
Minerals	118 045	102 815	8.0	15
Iron and steel	56 452	47 465	3.8	19
Non-ferrous metals	22 404	20 169	1.5	11
Metalliferrous ores, metal scrap	15 875	14 018	1.1	13
Chemicals, rubber products	176 010	158 787	11.9	11
Organic/inorganic chemicals	37 249	32 429	2.5	15
Pharmaceuticals products	41 470	38 116	2.8	9
Plastics	36 044	32 996	2.4	9
Crude rubber, rubber products	17 483	16 301	1.2	7
Mineral fuels, electric current	175 915	132 680	11.9	33
Crude petroleum oils	91 937	66 063	6.2	39
Petroleum products	65 199	52 860	4.4	23
Machinery, transport equipment	641 911	583 789	43.4	10
Manufactures of metals	45 911	41 585	3.1	10
Industrial machinery	151 007	135 354	10.2	12
Electronics, telecommunication	223 465	199 618	15.1	12
Road vehicles	168 875	163 094	11.4	4
Passenger cars	75 213	77 837	5.1	-3
Parts and accessories	63 481	55 583	4.3	14
Other transport equipment	18 284	11 463	1.2	60
Instruments, photo/optical equip	34 369	32 675	2.3	5
Other products	323 025	300 563	21.9	7
Food, beverages, tobacco	157 924	144 606	10.7	9
Textiles, clothing, footwear	74 801	70 018	5.1	7
Furniture	23 972	22 255	1.6	8

Publication

This report is published in more detail in a Statistical Report.

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2019-05-28 at 09:30.

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