Trade balance sees €85m deficit in May

The trade balance was in deficit of EUR 85 million in May, according to the preliminary statistics of international trade in goods provided by Finnish Customs on Thursday.

In January-May, the aggregated deficit amounted to EUR 710 million.

In May 2022, the trade balance was EUR 1.2 billion in deficit and in January-May of the same year, the aggregated deficit was EUR 5.9 billion.

The value of Finnish exports decreased by 7.0 per cent in May year-on-year. The value of Finnish exports in May was EUR 6.6 billion. Export volume increased by 3.3 per cent and export prices declined by 8.2 per cent year-on-year.

The value of imports decreased by 19.8 per cent in May and the value of imports was EUR 6.6 billion. Import prices declined by 10.8 per cent and import volume decreased by 8.7 per cent compared to May previous year.

In January-May 2023, the total value of exports increased by 1.0 per cent, but the value of imports decreased by 14.3 per cent year-on-year.

Change of export volume during the latest 12 months was minus 4.2 per cent (12 month moving average June 2022 – May 2023). The corresponding figure for import volume was minus 5.8 per cent.

Value of exports to EU member states decreased by 6.8 per cent and to non-EU countries by 7.2 per cent in May compared to the same month the previous year.

The volume of exports to EU countries increased by 3.8 per cent and to non-EU countries by 0.7 per cent during the same time.

Calculated from the beginning of the year (January-May), value of exports to EU countries rose by 0.4 per cent, but decreased to non-EU countries by 2.8 per cent. The volume of exports to EU member states decreased by 5.8 per cent and the volume of exports to non-EU countries by 1.0 per cent calculated according to 12-month moving average.

Value of imports from EU countries decreased by 14.5 per cent and from non-EU countries by 26.1 per cent in May. The volume of imports from EU member states remained at the same level as in May the previous year. The volume of imports from non-EU countries diminished by 15.8 per cent.

Calculated from the beginning of the year, imports from EU member states decreased by 6.8 per cent and from other countries by 23.3 per cent. The volume of imports from EU member states decreased by 4.1 per cent, and the volume of imports from non-EU countries by 7.0 per cent calculated according to 12-month moving average.