Sweden’s retail sales rose at the fastest rate in July, and the trade surplus increased, figures from Statistics Sweden showed on Thursday.
Retail sales rose 4.8 percent year-on-year in July, following a 2.9 percent increase in June.
The growth was biggest since November, when sales rose 5.7 percent.
Retail sales in durables gained 7.0 percent in July, while those of consumables, excluding sales at the state-owned chain of liquor stores remained unchanged.
On a monthly basis, retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 1.9 percent in July.
The trade surplus increased to SEK 16.8 billion in July from SEK 16.1 billion in the same month last year. In June, the trade surplus was SEK 21.8 billion.
Exports fell 15.0 percent annually in July and imports decreased 13.0 percent.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the trade surplus decreased to SEK 2.4 billion in July, compared with a surplus of SEK 3.2 billion in the previous month.
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