Finland's trade surplus fell to a 16-year low of 3.7 billion ($4.8 billion) in 2008, mainly because of a drop in the value of exports during the last two months of the year, customs officials said Monday.
The figure was down from 6.1 billion ($7.9 billion) in 2007, the National Board of Customs said. The value of exports fell 20 percent in November and 15 percent in December, compared to the corresponding months in 2007.
"It seems to be a global phenomenon," said Timo Koskimaki, spokesman for the customs agency. "Our exports fell some 15-20 percent at the end of the year and it happened fairly uniformly all across our major markets."
The value of exports last year amounted to 65.5 billion ($85.2 billion), virtually unchanged from 2007. Imports increased by 4 percent _ to 61.8 billion ($80.4 billion).
Exports and imports were both mainly pulled down by a decrease in the basic metals industry, the agency said.
Last year, Russia was Finland's largest trading partner _ in both exports and imports _ followed by Germany. Trade with other European Union countries fell slightly _ to 55.9 percent of all exports and 54.5 percent of all imports.
Finland mainly exports electronic equipment, paper and wood products, metals and machinery. Its chief imports are fuel, raw materials and consumer goods.
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