STOCKHOLM (dpa-AFX) - Sweden's foreign trade balance showed a deficit in May versus a surplus in the previous year, while retail sales fell for the first time in seventeen months, figures from Statistics Sweden showed on Tuesday.
The trade balance for May was a shortfall of SEK 1.9 billion against a surplus of SEK 3.5 billion in the corresponding month last year. In April, there was a deficit of SEK 3.2 billion.
Exports grew 27.0 percent year-over-year in May, while imports rose at a much faster rate of 32.0 percent.
The non-EU trade balance showed a surplus of SEK 17.1 billion in May, while the trade balance with the EU revealed a deficit of SEK 19.0 billion.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the trade deficit was SEK 3.3 billion in May compared to a deficit of SEK 2.9 billion in April.
In a separate report, the statistical office revealed that retail sales volume fell a working-day-adjusted 2.3 percent annually in May, in contrast to a 2.4 percent rise in April. This was the first decline since January 2021.
Retail sales of durables decreased 2.8 percent in May and those of consumables, excluding sales at the state-owned chain of liquor stores, dropped 1.0 percent.
On a monthly basis, retail sales fell a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent in May, reversing a 0.4 percent gain in the prior month.
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