various commodities imported and of the country of sale or
consumption of those exported are, however, not yet available
for
any later period than the year 1937. Indeed the full returns
for that year were not published earlier than March 5th, 1939.
The delay in making these detailed and extremely instructive
statistics available to the public is a cause of difficulty and
embarrassment to all desirous of improving their trade relations
with Sweden no matter whether their interests are centred in
buying from or selling to this country.

Germany again headed the list of supplying countries, but a comparison of total imports from that country with previous years is made difficult by the fact that after certain dates in 1938 the imports from Austria and the Sudeten territories were included in the German figures. For the years 1937 and 1938, the figures have been adjusted as far as possible by the statisticians at the Swedish Board of Trade. Imports from greater Germany are returned at 486.7 million kronor in 1938 as against 500.3 million kronor in 1937, and from Czechoslovakia at 44.0 and 50.4 million kronor respectively. Austria no longer figures in the statistics.

As regards countries of purchase, the United Kingdom takes second place followed by the U.S.A., but in the table showing the country of origin of the merchandise imported this position was reversed in 1938. The United Kingdom is Sweden's best customer, followed by Germany, the U.S.A., Norway, Denmark and Finland in the order named.

The position of the three leading countries partaking in the trade with Sweden is shown in the following tables:

The outstanding facts deduced from the above tables are:-
(a) That Sweden's trade with Germany has not under-
gone any outstanding changes in the past two years.

(b) That in 1938 imports from the United Kingdom decreased considerably both as regards the country of purchase and the country of origin and also in relation to Sweden's total imports. It is outstanding that in the table showing the balance of trade under the heading " Country of origin and consumption ", Sweden's favourable balance with the United Kingdom in 1938 was not less than 174.9 million kronor, whereas under the heading "Country of purchase and sale" it is only 70.6 million kronor. This gives the impression that Swedish purchases from the United Kingdom consist largely of goods that are not produced or manufactured in the United Kingdom whereas almost the whole of Sweden's exports to the United Kingdom are consumed there.

(c) That imports from the U.S.A. are increasing rapidly whereas exports to that country are decreasing.

A table setting out the total imports from and exports to
principal countries trading with Sweden in the past year will
be found in Appendix XXIII.

United Kingdom.-The following table is taken from the
Accounts Relating to Trade and Navigation of the United
Kingdom published by the Board of Trade:-

There is a considerable discrepancy between the Swedish and
British official returns. This is explained in part by the fact

that the value of one country's exports is increased by the inclusion of transport and other costs when considered as the other country's imports. The returns published by the Board of Trade do not confirm that our exports to Sweden consist largely of goods re-exported from the United Kingdom. A further analysis of the position is, however, not possible as detailed figures for 1938 are not available, and it is not known on what basis the Swedish authorities compute their two sets of trade returns.

In 1937 and also in 1938 Sweden took seventh place among foreign countries as a purchaser of United Kingdom goods, being surpassed by the U.S.A., Germany, France, Argentine Republic, Denmark and Holland in the order named.

According to preliminary returns published in Sweden relating to imports in 1938 of goods produced or manufactured in the United Kingdom, coal imports are returned at Kr. 75.2 millions as against Kr. 84.9 millions in 1937; textile imports at Kr. 64.5 millions as against 79 millions; chemical imports at 14.5 million kronor as against 15.9 million kronor, and the imports of nonprecious metals and manufactures thereof at Kr. 26 million as against Kr. 31.2 million. On the other hand the imports of machinery of United Kingdom origin rose from 24.0 to 25.7 million kronor and of automobiles from 6.3 to 7.9 million kronor over the same period. It is significant that imports from the United Kingdom under the main headings: mineral products (including coal), textiles (including yarns and wearing apparel), machinery and non-precious metals and manufactures thereof (including iron and steel) and chemical (including pharmaceutical products, colours, varnishes and paints) account for no less than 208.2 million kronor, or 82-8 per cent. of Sweden's total imports of goods of United Kingdom origin.

British Empire.-No absolute figures as regards Swedish imports from and exports to the British Empire are available, but a close approximation is as follows:

From the above returns the impression is gained that in the Swedish statistics showing countries of origin of goods imported, Empire products such as tea, cocoa, rubber, wool, fibres, etc., are accredited to the countries in which they are produced, no matter whether or not they have been blended, repacked or undergone some minor process of manufacture in the United Kingdom, whereas in the Board of Trade statistics goods imported in bulk and repacked, or reprocessed before they are shipped abroad are not necessarily classified as re-exports.

Germany. The machinery group heads the list of Swedish imports from Germany followed by non-precious metals and manufactures, thereof, textiles, chemicals, mineral products (principally mineral lubricating oils, coke and coal) and automobiles in the order named. The returns are as follows:

The 1938 imports entered under the above headings total 352 million kronor, which is 79.5 per cent. of the total imports of goods of German origin.

United States of America.-Imports from the U.S.A. are more evenly spread over the whole range of commodities and manufactured goods imported by Sweden. Mineral products, consisting very largely of petrol and petroleum products, head the list, followed by automobiles, machinery, non-precious

metals and manufactures thereof, textiles and fruit in the order
named. The returns are as follows:-

The 1938 imports entered under the above heading totalled 307.5 million kronor, which is 91.4 per cent. of the total imports of goods of U.S.A. origin.

The Nordic Group.-As is to be expected, Sweden has a favourable balance of trade with the other Nordic countries, this position being due to the fact that not only has Sweden a surplus of the natural products of the Scandinavian countries, but she has also a far larger manufacturing capacity and is well placed for supplying the industrial products imported by her neighbours. The returns are as follows:

Other Countries.-The Swedish foreign trade returns for 1938 show considerable reductions in the imports from Spain, Roumania and Greece, but on the other hand imports from