Welcome to Statistics Sweden's website for respondents to the survey Foreign trade in services, non-cross-border goods and current transfers. Here you will find information about the survey and you can submit your information electronically.

The survey is conducted by Statistics Sweden quarterly on behalf of Sweden's Riksbank. The statistics are an important source of information for the balance of payments, the national accounts and for reporting to the EU, the OECD, the IMF and the UN.

The survey is based on a sample consisting of roughly 6000 enterprises, public sector operations and non-profit organisations of households. The sample has been drawn by using statistical methods.

The survey includes transactions with other countries concerning:

• Purchase and sale of services
• Purchase and sale of rights
• Purchase and sale of goods not crossing the Swedish border
• Current transfers
• Purchase of goods abroad for construction work abroad

Foreign trade in services, non-cross-border goods and current transfer refers to transactions between Swedish and foreign enterprises, organizations or government agencies.

• The transactions are to be reported on relevant SCB-codes and also divided into country codes.
• A subsidiary or a branch office to a Swedish owned enterprise with permanent operations abroad is considered foreign.
• It makes no difference where the service itself is produced.
• Services should be reported in the quarter when the services are provided, goods and rights in the quarter when the change in economic ownership takes place.
• Current transfers are reported in the quarter of the payment.

Instructions (pdf)

Instructions insurance companies (pdf)

Country codes (pdf)

Verify with the VAT declaration

There is a correlation between the data reported in this survey and the data reported in the VAT declaration. We therefore recommend checking your reported information with the VAT declaration. Statistics Sweden regularly use this method for reviewing purposes.

In the VAT return form you fill the services purchased from countries within the EU (box 21) and from countries outside of the EU (box 22). Sale of services are reported in box 39 for within the EU and box 40 for outside the EU. Summed up per quarter they should, in most cases, correspond to services reported in this survey.

In addition to goods not crossing the Swedish border and current transfers, there are several services in the survey which are free from VAT and are therefore not part of the VAT return form”. 

One example of a non-crossing-border good is merchanting. Merchanting within the EU is registered in the VAT declaration’s boxes 37 and 38.

Data collection starts approximately two weeks prior to the end of relevant quarter. The last dates to report for the 2024 survey year are:

• Quarter 1: 15/4, 2024
• Quarter 2: 15/7, 2024
• Quarter 3: 15/10, 2024
• Quarter 4: 15/1, 2025

Frequently asked questions on the survey Foreign trade in services, non-cross-border goods and current transfers