Trade surplus increased since June

External trade in goods, July 2010

In July, exports came to NOK 61.7 billion while imports reached NOK 33.3 billion. This gave a trade surplus of NOK 28.4 billion. The surplus was NOK 2.9 billion higher than in June, but NOK 1.6 billion lower than July last year.

The increase in trade surplus from June to July this year is explained by higher import figures in the first month. The decline in trade surplus compared with July last year is explained by both higher imports and reduced exports in July this year.

High crude oil price in July

The export value of crude oil in July came to NOK 23.2 billion; only a marginal decline from July last year. However, there was a major difference in the distribution between price and volume. The number of crude oil barrels exported was 48.0 million, compared to 56.5 million in July last year. The price per barrel was on the other hand much higher: NOK 485 in July this year and only NOK 412 in July last year. Compared with June this year, both the price per barrel and the number of barrels exported were somewhat down. Looking at the first seven months this year, there was a fall in the number of barrels exported of 8 per cent compared to January to July last year. A similar comparison for the price per barrel showed an increase of 35 per cent.

Falling exports of natural gas

The exported value of natural gas in July came to NOK 11.4 billion. This is a 6.5 per cent fall from July last year, due to lower export volume. The exported volume in July also fell compared with June this year.

Source: Statistics Norway