HELSINKI: Finland’s trade balance showed a 225 million-euro deficit at the end of April this year. According to new data from Finnish Customs, exports to non-EU countries in particular took a hard hit in April and overall, exports declined 11 percent compared to last year.
Advance data from the Customs Board show that Finnish exports contracted by 11 percent in April compared to the same time last year. The value of goods exported in April was reckoned up at 4.3 billion euros.
Foreign trade with non-EU countries in particular showed a deep decline in April, dropping by 17 percent on the previous year.
Meanwhile exports to EU countries fell by six percent, and there was an increase in goods sold to Sweden. For the first four months of the year, from January to April, exports declined by eight percent on the same period in 2015.
Customs said that a steady two-year downturn in exports of refined oil products eased somewhat in April, showing a slight increase compared to last year. The main fuel exporter is the majority state-owned Neste Oil. However foreign trade in almost every other key product group shrank compared to 2015.
On the import side, goods brought into the country rose four percent in April to reach a value of 4.5 billion euros. However overall, imports during the first four months of the year contracted by four percent compared to a year earlier.
