Substantial improvement terms of trade

In December, the terms of trade of imported and exported goods were considerably higher than in December 2007. On average, prices of imported and exported goods were respectively 6 and 3 percent down on December 2007.

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

The strong decline in import prices in December was partly caused by substantially lower prices for crude petroleum and petroleum derivatives compared to one year previously. The decline in export prices was partly caused by the lower prices for petroleum derivatives. Lower exports prices in December were to a certain extent moderated 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