Trade balance shows €365m deficit in January

The trade balance showed a deficit of 365 million euros in January, according to the preliminary statistics of international trade in goods provided by Finnish Customs.

The balance of trade showed a surplus of 510 million euros in the stipulated period of last year, said a Customs press release.

The value of Finnish exports decreased by 18.3 per cent while the value of imports decreased by 3.7 per cent in January year-on-year.

The value of exports in January was almost 4.8 billion euros and the value of imports was slightly over 5.1 billion euros.

High value vessel deliveries in the reference month partly explain the steep drop in exports.

Calculated without the impact of vessel deliveries exports would have decreased by 7.9 per cent in January.

Exports to EU member states decreased by 21.4 per cent in January and exports to non-EU countries by 13.2 per cent.

Imports from EU-countries diminished by 4.5 per cent and imports from non-EU countries fell by 2.5 per cent in January.