Trade balance posts €354m surplus in Sep

The trade balance showed a surplus of EUR 354 million in September, according to the international trade in goods statistics published by Finnish Customs on Wednesday.

In January-September 2023, the trade balance had accumulated a deficit of 1.2 billion euros, which was 8.2 billion euros less than a year earlier.

The aggregate trade surplus by commodity group for products of industrial machinery and equipment and metals increased compared to the previous year.

The trade surplus in products of both mechanical and chemical forest industry decreased.

The deficit increased for transport equipment, but decreased for ores and metal scrap, crude oil and refined petroleum products and electrical machinery and equipment.

The value of Finnish exports of goods decreased by 12.3 per cent year-on-year in September.

The value of Finnish exports was EUR 6.3 billion. Export volume decreased by 4.6 per cent, and export prices declined by 7.0 per cent year-on-year.

The value of imports decreased by 20.8 per cent in September to EUR 6.0 billion.

Import prices declined by 11.5 per cent, and import volume decreased by 9.9 per cent compared to September 2022.

In January-September, the total value of exports decreased by 6.7 percent and the value of imports by 17.6 percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

Change of export volume during the latest 12 months was minus 4.0 per cent (12 month moving average October 2022 – September 2023). The corresponding figure for import volume was minus 9.8 per cent.

The terms of trade improved in September compared to the corresponding month of 2022 as import prices declined more rapidly than export prices.

The point figure in September was 101.1, while it was 96.2 in September 2022. The terms of trade did not change from August 2023.

Earlier in this month, the preliminary statistics published by Finnish Customs said that the trade balance was in surplus of EUR 365 million in September.