Foreign trade in services, quarter 2 2022
Continued deficit in trade in services
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2022-09-01 8.00
Sweden’s foreign trade in services continued to grow in the second quarter of the year. However, imports of services increased at a higher rate than exports of services, which resulted in a substantial trade deficit.
Strong services trade, negative trade balance
Swedish foreign trade in services continued to increase during the second quarter of 2022. Exports of services rose by 29 percent and imports of services rose by 42 percent, compared with the same quarter last year.
Sweden’s exports of services were valued at SEK 203 billion in the second quarter of the year, while the value of imports was SEK 228 billion. This resulted in a negative net balance of nearly SEK 25 billion. The corresponding figure for the same quarter last year was SEK -3,4 billion.
Intellectual property use pushes trade balance downwards
Imports of charges for use of intellectual property increased sharply during the second quarter. Compared with the same quarter last year, imports increased by 64 percent, while exports decreased by 4 percent. This large increase in imports was one of the main contributing factors to the trade deficit. Increases in travels (consumption abroad) further contributed to the deficit.
On the export side, telecommunication, computer and information services rose by 10 percent. Other business services (including research and development services, administrative services and marketing services) rose by 31 percent. Transports rose by 40 percent.
On the import side, telecommunication, computer and information services rose by 14 percent. Other business services rose by 24 percent. Transports rose by 47 percent.
| Exports | Imports | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service item | Share in % | Change in % | Share in % | Change in % | |||||
| 2022Q2 | 2021Q2 | 2022Q2 | 2022Q2/2021Q2 | 2022Q2 | 2021Q2 | 2022Q2 | 2022Q2/2021Q2 | ||
| Total | 203 055 | 157 524 | 100.0 | 28.9 | 228 026 | 160 909 | 100.0 | 41.7 | |
| Manufacturing services | 3 636 | 3 053 | 1.8 | 19.1 | 4 092 | 3 988 | 1.8 | 2.6 | |
| Maintenance and repair services | 607 | 588 | 0.3 | 3.2 | 2 499 | 1 937 | 1.1 | 29.0 | |
| Transport | 27 058 | 19 367 | 13.3 | 39.7 | 30 084 | 20 494 | 13.2 | 46.8 | |
| Travel | 23 902 | 9 008 | 11.8 | 165.3 | 33 955 | 13 571 | 14.9 | 150.2 | |
| Construction | 1 558 | 1 285 | 0.8 | 21.2 | 5 213 | 3 332 | 2.3 | 56.5 | |
| Insurance and pension services | 2 560 | 1 573 | 1.3 | 62.7 | 2 272 | 1 498 | 1.0 | 51.7 | |
| Financial services | 9 625 | 9 142 | 4.7 | 5.3 | 5 484 | 4 729 | 2.4 | 16.0 | |
| Charges for the use of intellectual property | 18 792 | 19 527 | 9.3 | ‑3.8 | 35 519 | 21 693 | 15.6 | 63.7 | |
| Telecommunications, computer, and information services | 38 448 | 34 823 | 18.9 | 10.4 | 28 298 | 24 726 | 12.4 | 14.4 | |
| Other business services | 57 485 | 44 043 | 28.3 | 30.5 | 75 837 | 61 093 | 33.3 | 24.1 | |
| Personal, cultural, and recreational services | 18 002 | 14 007 | 8.9 | 28.5 | 4 550 | 3 253 | 2.0 | 39.9 | |
| Government goods and services | 1 384 | 1 110 | 0.7 | 24.7 | 222 | 592 | 0.1 | ‑62.5 | |
Revisions
Quarter 1 2022 has been revised.
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 how trade in services in the National Accounts and the Balance of Payments sometimes differ from this statistic.
Next publishing will be
2022-12-02, 08:00.
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.