Foreign trade in services, quarter 1 2023
Trade in services continues upward
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2023-06-02 8.00
Foreign trade in services increased during the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period last year. However, the low trade balance persisted. The main reasons for this were negative balances in both use of intellectual property and other business services.
Strong trade in services but negative trade balance
Trade in services continued to increase during the first quarter of 2023. Exports of services increased by 21 percent and imports of services by 20 percent compared to the same quarter last year.
Sweden’s exports of services were valued at SEK 253 billion in the first quarter of the year, while the value of imports was SEK 273 billion. This resulted in a negative net balance of SEK 20 billion. The corresponding figure for the same quarter last year was negative net balance of SEK 19 billion. Like before, the major underlying factors for the low balance of trade were the negative net balances for the use of intellectual property and other business services.
Large increases in financial services
The exports and imports of financial services saw significant increases during the first quarter. Exports increased by 44 percent and imports by 64 percent compared to the same period last year.
On the export side, other business services (including research and development services, administrative services and marketing services) rose by 23 percent. Telecommunication, computer and information services rose by 18 percent. Transports rose by 17 percent. Travels (consumption abroad) rose by 27 percent
On the import side, other business services rose by 13 percent. Telecommunication, computer and information services rose by 17 percent. Transports rose by 17 percent and travels rose by 54 percent.
| Exports | Imports | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service item | Share in % | Change in % | Share in % | Change in % | |||||
| 2023Q1 | 2022Q1 | 2023Q1 | 2023Q1/2022Q1 | 2023Q1 | 2022Q1 | 2023Q1 | 2023Q1/2022Q1 | ||
| Total | 252 885 | 208 380 | 100.0 | 21.4 | 273 383 | 227 866 | 100.0 | 20.0 | |
| Manufacturing services | 14 160 | 9 478 | 5.6 | 49.4 | 7 478 | 4 743 | 2.7 | 57.7 | |
| Maintenance and repair services | 491 | 674 | 0.2 | ‑27.2 | 4 183 | 3 407 | 1.5 | 22.8 | |
| Transport | 30 205 | 25 735 | 11.9 | 17.4 | 35 186 | 30 215 | 12.9 | 16.5 | |
| Travel | 18 414 | 14 535 | 7.3 | 26.7 | 32 407 | 21 103 | 11.9 | 53.6 | |
| Construction | 3 005 | 2 841 | 1.2 | 5.8 | 3 592 | 3 684 | 1.3 | ‑2.5 | |
| Insurance and pension services | 2 546 | 2 541 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 2 030 | 2 051 | 0.7 | ‑1.0 | |
| Financial services | 14 862 | 10 317 | 5.9 | 44.1 | 8 093 | 4 943 | 3.0 | 63.7 | |
| Charges for the use of intellectual property | 20 282 | 18 870 | 8.0 | 7.5 | 39 315 | 32 593 | 14.4 | 20.6 | |
| Telecommunications, computer, and information services | 53 433 | 45 486 | 21.1 | 17.5 | 41 648 | 35 740 | 15.2 | 16.5 | |
| Other business services | 72 507 | 58 944 | 28.7 | 23.0 | 93 028 | 82 103 | 34.0 | 13.3 | |
| Personal, cultural, and recreational services | 21 068 | 17 911 | 8.3 | 17.6 | 5 796 | 6 700 | 2.1 | ‑13.5 | |
| Government goods and services | 1 912 | 1 047 | 0.8 | 82.6 | 626 | 583 | 0.2 | 7.4 | |
Revisions
Quarter 4 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
2023-09-01, 08:00.
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.