Non-EU trade surplus boosts Swedish trade balance in March

Sweden's net trade surplus was 2.6 billion Swedish kronor (396 million U.S. dollars) in March, helped by its trade with countries outside the European Union (EU), according to the Swedish Central Statistics Bureau's (SCB) on Tuesday. In March, Swedish exports of goods amounted to 94.8 billion Swedish kronor, up by 2 percent in value compared to March 2013, while imports amounted to 92.2 billion kronor, up by 6 percent compared to last year, said the SCB. The net trade surplus of 2.6 billion Swedish kronor in March this year was a decrease compared to the same period in 2013, when the value reached 6.1 billion kronor. Trade with countries outside the EU resulted in a surplus of 9 billion Swedish kronor, while EU trade resulted in a deficit of 6.4 billion kronor. However, in March this year, Sweden's export of goods to EU countries was still higher in value than that to non-EU countries, which reached 56.2 billion kronor and 38.6 billion Swedish kronor respectively. (1 Swedish kronor = 0.15 U.S. dollars