Foreign trade in services Q3 2020
Major decline in foreign trade in services persists in the third quarter 2020
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2020-12-07 9.30
The coronavirus pandemic continues to have a strong negative effect on foreign trade in services. Both exports and imports have dropped sharply. Travel and transport were most severely affected.
Service balance narrowed
In the third quarter of 2020, exports of services fell by 20 percent and imports of services fell by 19 percent compared with the same quarter a year ago. By comparison, in the third quarter 2019, exports increased by 15 percent and imports increased by 11 percent.
The value of Sweden’s exports of services amounted to SEK 143 billion in the third quarter. Imports of services amounted to SEK 145 billion, which results in a net balance of negative SEK 1.2 billion. The net balance was weakened, compared with the same quarter a year ago, when the net balance amounted to negative SEK 1.1 billion.
Travel remains severely impacted
As in the second quarter, travel was severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Exports fell by 63 percent and imports fell by 65 percent compared with the same quarter a year ago. Transport, air transport in particular, was also affected by the pandemic more than other types of services. Exports of air transport fell by 70 percent and imports fell by 73 percent. Other transport noted less extreme developments.
On the export side, fees for use of intellectual property fell by 29 percent, while telecommunication, computer and information services rose by 2 percent. Other business services (including research and development services, administrative services and marketing services) fell by 13 percent.
On the import side, fees for use of intellectual property rose by 3 percent. Telecommunications, data and information services rose by 4 percent, and other business services rose by 5 percent.
| Exports | Imports | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Share in % | Change in % | Share in % | Change in % | ||||||
| 2020Q3 | 2019Q3 | 2020Q3 | 2020Q3/ 2019Q3 | 2020Q3 | 2019Q3 | 2020Q3 | 2020Q3/ 2019Q3 | ||
| Total | 143 440 | 179 639 | 100.0 | ‑20.2 | 144 599 | 178 533 | 100.0 | ‑19.0 | |
| Manufacturing services | 2 039 | 3 233 | 1.4 | ‑36.9 | 3 047 | 3 560 | 2.1 | ‑14.4 | |
| Maintenance and repair services | 618 | 1 164 | 0.4 | ‑46.9 | 728 | 1 211 | 0.5 | ‑39.9 | |
| Transport | 16 569 | 23 663 | 11.6 | ‑30.0 | 19 544 | 26 702 | 13.5 | ‑26.8 | |
| Travel | 10 556 | 28 492 | 7.4 | ‑63.0 | 14 398 | 40 979 | 10.0 | ‑64.9 | |
| Construction | 914 | 1 647 | 0.6 | ‑44.5 | 2 668 | 4 700 | 1.8 | ‑43.2 | |
| Insurance and pension services | 1 488 | 1 341 | 1.0 | 11.0 | 1 090 | 1 622 | 0.8 | ‑32.8 | |
| Financial services | 8 707 | 7 547 | 6.1 | 15.4 | 3 945 | 4 441 | 2.7 | ‑11.2 | |
| Charges for the use of intellectual property | 14 720 | 20 867 | 10.3 | ‑29.5 | 16 880 | 16 451 | 11.7 | 2.6 | |
| Telecommunications, computer, and information services | 32 246 | 31 738 | 22.5 | 1.6 | 23 008 | 22 031 | 15.9 | 4.4 | |
| Other business services | 41 309 | 47 461 | 28.8 | ‑13.0 | 55 544 | 53 101 | 38.4 | 4.6 | |
| Personal, cultural, and recreational services | 13 323 | 11 193 | 9.3 | 19.0 | 3 186 | 3 132 | 2.2 | 1.7 | |
| Government goods and services | 949 | 1 295 | 0.7 | ‑26.7 | 561 | 603 | 0.4 | ‑7.0 | |
Revisions
Quarter 2 2020 has been revised. The period 2013-2017 has also been revised. The revision resulted in a break in the time series between 2012 and 2013.
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
2021-03-05 09:30.
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.