Trade balance posts €360m surplus in April

The trade balance was in surplus of EUR 360 million in April, according to the preliminary statistics of international trade in goods published by Finnish Customs on Tuesday.

In January-April, the aggregated deficit amounted to EUR 535 million.

In April 2022, the trade balance was EUR 955 million in deficit and in January-April of the same year, the aggregated deficit was EUR 4.6 billion.

The value of Finnish exports decreased by 3.8 per cent in April year-on-year. The value of exports in April was EUR 6.4 billion. Export volume decreased by 1.5 per cent, and export prices decreased by 1.2 per cent year-on-year.

The value of imports decreased by 20.6 per cent in April and the value of imports was EUR 6.0 billion. Import prices declined by 7.8 per cent and import volume decreased by 13.2 per cent compared to April 2022.

In January-April 2023, the total value of exports increased by 0.8 per cent, but the value of imports decreased by 13.1 per cent year-on-year. Change of export volume during the latest 12 months was minus 4.6 per cent (12 month moving average April 2022 – April 2023). The corresponding figure for import volume ‘was minus 4.3 per cent.

Value of exports to EU member states increased by 0.6 per cent, but decreased to non-EU countries by 10.2 per cent in April compared to the same month the previous year. The volume of exports to EU countries increased by 6.6 per cent, but decreased to non-EU countries by 11.5 per cent during the same time.

Calculated from the beginning of the year, value of exports to EU countries increased by 2.5 per cent, but decreased to non-EU countries by 1.7 per cent. The volume of exports from EU member states decreased by 5.7 per cent and the volume of exports from non-EU countries by 1.6 per cent calculated according to 12-month moving average.

Value of imports from EU countries decreased by 13.4 per cent and from non-EU countries by 29.2 per cent in April. The volume of imports from EU member states decreased by 5.7 per cent and from non-EU countries by 23.5 per cent.

Calculated from the beginning of the year, imports from EU member states decreased by 5.0 per cent and from other countries by 22.7 per cent. The volume of imports from EU member states decreased by 4.2 per cent, and the volume of imports from non-EU countries by 3.6 per cent calculated according to 12-month moving average.