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Exports and imports of goods, quarter 1 2024/January-March 2024, in current prices and in constant prices

Weak first quarter for foreign trade in goods

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2024-05-28 8.00

In the first quarter 2024, exports of goods decreased by 5 percent in value and by 4 percent in volume compared with the same period a year ago. At the same time, imports of goods fell by 5 percent in value and by 3 percent in volume.

– In the first quarter 2024, exports to Germany decreased by 10 percent which amounted to about SEK 6 billion. Minerals accounted for the largest decrease, says Maria Adolfsson, statistician at Statistics Sweden.

Summary

  • In the first quarter of 2024, Swedish exports of goods decreased by 5 percent in value (in current prices), and in terms of volume (in constant prices) they fell by 4 percent, compared with the same period a year ago. Imports of goods decreased by 5 percent in value, and in terms of volume they fell by 3 percent.
  • In the first quarter 2024, the value of Swedish exports of goods amounted to SEK 517 billion, and the value of imports of goods amounted to SEK 488 billion.
  • Compared with the previous quarter, Swedish exports of goods decreased by 5 percent in value and by 3 percent in volume. Imports of goods fell by 7 percent in value and by 5 percent in volume.
  • Net trade shows a surplus of SEK 29 billion in the first quarter 2024. In the same period in 2023, there was a net trade surplus of SEK 28 billion.

Detailed information about the first quarter 2024 (in current prices and in constant prices)

Exports of minerals decreased by 19 percent in value and by 15 percent in volume

Exports of machinery and transport equipment increased by 1 percent in value, while they decreased by 1 percent in volume. Exports of wood and paper products fell by 9 percent in value, while they rose by 3 percent in volume. Exports of minerals fell by 19 percent in value and by 15 percent in volume. Within the product area iron ore and concentrates decreased by 65 percent in value and by 66 percent in volume. Exports of mineral fuels and electric current decreased by 11 percent in value and by 5 percent in volume. Within the other products area, exports of food/beverages/tobacco decreased by 4 percent in value and by 6 percent in volume.

  Exports
  Value (current prices) Value (current
prices)
Volume (value in
constant prices)
      Share
in %
Change
in %
Change
in %
Commodity group according to SITC January-March
2024
January-March
2023
January-March
2024
Q1
2024/Q1
2023
Q1
2024/Q1
2023
Total 516 930 541 522 100.0 ‑5 ‑4
Wood and paper products 45 804 50 412 8.9 ‑9 3
Wood 10 344 11 763 2.0 ‑12 ‑12
Pulp and waste paper 7 579 9 093 1.5 ‑17 ‑2
Paper, paper products 25 856 27 447 5.0 ‑6 12
Minerals 47 731 58 791 9.2 ‑19 ‑15
Iron ore and concentrates 3 203 9 234 0.6 ‑65 ‑66
Iron and steel 20 504 25 500 4.0 ‑20 ‑13
Non-ferrous metals 14 021 12 603 2.7 11 19
Chemicals, rubber products 78 796 82 382 15.2 ‑4 ‑2
Organic/inorganic chemicals 7 219 9 664 1.4 ‑25 ‑14
Pharmaceutical products 39 515 39 548 7.6 0 ‑1
Plastics 12 137 12 330 2.3 ‑2 6
Mineral fuels, electric current 40 475 45 646 7.8 ‑11 ‑5
Petroleum products 34 571 35 782 6.7 ‑3 ‑1
Machinery, transport equipment 236 815 233 506 45.8 1 ‑1
Manufactures of metals 12 797 13 191 2.5 ‑3 ‑4
Industrial machinery 76 405 77 146 14.8 ‑1 ‑6
Electronics, telecommunication 49 835 50 471 9.6 ‑1 ‑1
Road vehicles 84 275 79 234 16.3 6 3
Passenger cars 45 375 41 861 8.8 8 7
Lorries, trucks[1] 13 751 12 943 2.7 6 ‑4
Parts, accessories 19 588 18 968 3.8 3 1
Other transport equipment 2 230 2 122 0.4 5 4
Instruments, photo/optical products 11 274 11 341 2.2 ‑1 ‑4
Other products 67 310 70 786 13.0 ‑5 ‑7
Food, beverages, tobacco 33 242 34 761 6.4 ‑4 ‑6
Textiles, clothing, footwear 13 059 14 324 2.5 ‑9 ‑11
Furniture 5 698 6 259 1.1 ‑9 ‑11

Imports of wood and paper products fell by 6 percent in value while they rose by 7 percent in volume

Imports of machinery and transport equipment decreased by 3 percent in value, and by 4 percent in volume. Imports of wood and paper products fell by 6 percent in value, while they rose by 7 percent in volume. Imports of minerals decreased by 6 percent in value, while they increased by 3 percent in volume. Imports of mineral fuels and electric current fell by 8 percent in value, and by 4 percent in volume. Within the other products area, imports of food/beverages/tobacco decreased by 2 percent in value, while they remained the same in volume.

  Imports
  Value (current prices) Value (current
prices)
Volume (value in
constant prices)
      Share
in %
Change
in %
Change
in %
Commodity group according to SITC January-March
2024
January-March
2023
January-March
2024
Q1
2024/Q1
2023
Q1
2024/Q1
2023
Total 488 280 513 837 100.0 ‑5 ‑3
Wood and paper products 13 748 14 612 2.8 ‑6 7
Minerals 39 127 41 690 8.0 ‑6 3
Iron and steel 14 024 17 615 2.9 ‑20 ‑10
Non-ferrous metals 11 269 9 042 2.3 25 43
Metalliferrous ores, metal scrap 7 046 7 361 1.4 ‑4 2
Chemicals, rubber products 65 353 70 276 13.4 ‑7 ‑3
Organic/inorganic chemicals 14 067 17 750 2.9 ‑21 ‑18
Pharmaceutical products 19 440 18 109 4.0 7 9
Plastics 10 723 11 768 2.2 ‑9 ‑2
Crude rubber, rubber products 5 355 5 792 1.1 ‑8 ‑6
Mineral fuels, electric current 52 281 56 905 10.7 ‑8 ‑4
Crude petroleum oils 32 609 29 983 6.7 9 5
Petroleum products 14 783 20 453 3.0 ‑28 ‑22
Machinery, transport equipment 214 836 222 451 44.0 ‑3 ‑4
Manufactures of metals 14 910 16 808 3.1 ‑11 ‑8
Industrial machinery 50 104 52 862 10.3 ‑5 ‑9
Electronics, telecommunication 78 717 77 564 16.1 1 5
Road vehicles 54 960 59 137 11.3 ‑7 ‑10
Passenger cars 26 394 28 877 5.4 ‑9 ‑10
Parts and accessories 18 396 19 151 3.8 ‑4 ‑6
Other transport equipment 3 664 3 550 0.8 3 4
Instruments, photo/optical equip 12 481 12 530 2.6 0 ‑4
Other products 102 936 107 904 21.1 ‑5 ‑3
Food, beverages, tobacco 54 182 55 411 11.1 ‑2 0
Textiles, clothing, footwear 22 423 24 272 4.6 ‑8 ‑7
Furniture 6 355 7 041 1.3 ‑10 ‑11

Value and volume trends

The value index and the volume index describe nominal and real value trends over time. The real value trends describe trends in which price changes have been removed. The indices are chain indices with base year 2015=100.

Exports and imports of goods, March 2024, in current prices and in constant prices

The value index and the volume index for exports decreased in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. The value index and the volume index are lower compared to the same period last year.

Exports and imports of goods, March 2024, in current prices and in constant prices

The value index and the volume index for imports of goods decreased in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2023 and are lower compared to the same period last year. The value index is the lowest since the first quarter of 2022.

Detailed information about January–March 2024 (current prices)

Exports of goods to Germany fell by 10 percent

Sweden’s exports of goods to EU27 decreased by 5 percent, and imports from there by 4 percent compared with the same period a year ago. Both exports to and imports from the euro countries fell by 4 percent. Among the EU countries, exports to Germany decreased by 10 percent, to Denmark by 14 percent and to Finland by 5 percent. Imports from Germany decreased by 6 percent, from Denmark by 4 percent while they remained the same from Finland.

Exports to other European countries decreased by 7 percent, and imports from there by 4 percent. Exports to the United Kingdom fell by 7 percent, while imports from there rose by 25 percent. In the period, imports of crude petroleum oils accounted for the largest increase from the United Kingdom. Exports to Norway decreased by 5 percent, and imports from there by 12 percent. In the period, imports of mineral fuels and electric current accounted for the largest decrease from Norway. Exports to Russia fell by 22 percent, while imports from there rose by 22 percent. In the period, imports of metalliferrous ores/metal scrap accounted for the largest increase in percentage, but in terms of value the increase was almost nought.

Exports to Asia fell by 4 percent, and imports from there by 8 percent. Exports to China decreased by 4 percent, and imports from there by 6 percent.

Exports to the United States decreased by 5 percent, and imports from there by 20 percent. In the period, imports of chemicals/rubber products accounted for the largest decrease from the United States.

  Exports Imports
  Value (current prices) Value (current prices)
Region January-March Share
in %
Change
in %
January-March Share
in %
Change
in %
  2024 2023 2024 2024/2023 2024 2023 2024 2024/2023
Total 516 930 541 522 100.0 ‑5 488 280 513 837 100.0 ‑5
Europe 381 422 401 888 73.8 ‑5 411 859 429 221 84.3 ‑4
EU27_2020 289 497 303 443 56.0 ‑5 328 798 342 328 67.3 ‑4
EMU-20 222 596 231 389 43.1 ‑4 257 001 269 070 52.6 ‑4
Other European countries 91 925 98 445 17.8 ‑7 83 061 86 892 17.0 ‑4
Africa 9 295 9 679 1.8 ‑4 4 092 5 120 0.8 ‑20
North Africa 5 029 4 616 1.0 9 1 354 1 610 0.3 ‑16
West Africa 658 1 328 0.1 ‑50 2 305 2 684 0.5 ‑14
Central, East and Southern Africa 3 607 3 736 0.7 ‑3 433 826 0.1 ‑48
America 62 588 65 263 12.1 ‑4 24 305 26 415 5.0 ‑8
North America 52 698 54 729 10.2 ‑4 18 119 22 809 3.7 ‑21
Central and South America 9 890 10 534 1.9 ‑6 6 186 3 606 1.3 72
Asia 55 064 57 358 10.7 ‑4 46 929 50 896 9.6 ‑8
Middle- and Near East 9 361 9 537 1.8 ‑2 3 096 3 552 0.6 ‑13
Other countries in Asia 45 703 47 821 8.8 ‑4 43 833 47 344 9.0 ‑7
Oceania and Antarctica 6 570 5 383 1.3 22 1 096 2 158 0.2 ‑49

Next publishing will be

2024-08-28 at 08:00.

Statistical Database

More information is available in the Statistical Database

Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.

Statistical agency

Statistics Sweden

Enquiries

Maria Adolfsson

Telephone
+46 10 479 47 25
E-mail
maria.adolfsson@scb.se

Jason Oljelund

Telephone
+46 10 479 41 61
E-mail
jason.oljelund@scb.se