Terms of trade improved

In November the terms of trade in the Netherlands were considerably higher than in November 2007. Prices of exported goods were on average 0.5 percent down on November 2007, while prices of imported goods were on average 4 percent down on the same month last year.

For the second month running, the terms of trade improved noticeably in November. This was preceded by twelve months of deterioration, in which import prices increased more rapidly each month than export prices.

The strong decrease of import prices in November was partly caused by lower prices for mineral fuels. The price of crude petroleum and petroleum derivatives dropped significantly in the space of one year. One the other hand, export prices of mineral fuels increased, which is partly caused by higher natural gas prices.

More information can be found in the article “Changes in the terms of trade in goods”.

Changes in terms of trade