Swedish economic sentiment strengthened to a six-and-a-half year high in September suggesting stronger than normal growth in the economy, survey data from the National Institute of Economic Research showed Wednesday.
The economic tendency survey index rose to 113.8 in September from 110.5 in August. The score was forecast to rise to 111.3, RTTNews reported.
Rise in September was due mainly to even stronger signals from manufacturing, where confidence hit a new high. The corresponding index came in at 124.6 versus 116.4 a month ago.
Other parts of the business sector made a slightly negative contribution to the overall indicator, and consumers’ view of the economy improved only marginally.
Confidence indicator for the building and civil engineering industry edged back after climbing in August. The sentiment index slid to 114.1 from 115.1. The confidence indicator for retail trade fell for a third month, to 101.2 in September from 103.0 a month ago.
The confidence indicator for the private service sectors fell 1.3 points to 104.3, due to slightly weaker expectations for demand in months ahead.
On the other hand, the consumer confidence indicator rose to 101.8 from 101.0 in previous month.
Meanwhile, Sweden’s foreign trade gap narrowed in August from a year ago, as exports grew faster than imports, figures from Statistics Sweden showed Wednesday.
The trade deficit declined notably to SEK 5.4 billion ($660 million) in August from SEK 10.1 billion in the corresponding month last year. However, it was well above the shortfall of SEK 1.9 billion in July.
The value of exports surged 13% year-on-year in August and imports rose by 7%.
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