Balance of Payments, first quarter 2006

The current account showed a surplus of SEK 58.3 billion for 2006 Q1, which is an increase of SEK 16.6 billion compared with the same period in 2005. The trade in goods balance contributed the largest surplus of SEK 46.3 billion. Services and investment income also showed surpluses of SEK 14.7 billion and SEK 4.6 billion respectively, while current transfers showed a deficit of SEK 7.3 billion. Compared with the corresponding quarter last year, all of the above-mentioned main items improved their balances. The current account for Q1 showed a surplus with regard to EU countries of SEK 9.1 billion, while the surplus for countries outside of the EU amounted to SEK 49.2 billion.