STOCKHOLM (dpa-AFX) - Sweden's retail sales grew for the second month in a row in June, and the trade surplus increased, figures from Statistics Sweden showed on Tuesday.
Retail sales rose 3.5 percent year-on-year in June, after a 2.7 percent increase in May.
The growth was biggest since February, when sales rose 4.3 percent.
Retail sales in durables gained 5.1 percent in June, while those of consumables, excluding sales at the state-owned chain of liquor stores, decreased by 0.9 percent.
On a monthly basis, retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 1.0 percent in June.
The trade surplus increased to SEK 4.9 billion in June from SEK 1.6 billion in the same month last year. In May, the trade surplus was SEK 1.9 billion.
Exports fell 3.0 percent annually in June and imports decreased 5.0 percent.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the trade surplus decreased to SEK 3.8 billion in June, compared with a surplus of SEK 4.3 billion in the previous month.
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