Sales of cars more than halved in volume during the first quarter as Swedish foreign trade dived sharply.

Swedish export contracted more than a fifth during the years first four month as the global financial crisis hits international trade, the statistics office said Monday.

During the years first quarter exports from Sweden decreased by an entire 21.4 percent in volume while Swedish imports of goods decreased in volume by 18.2 percent.

“The sharp drop in foreign trade during the first quarter can be seen in light of the financial crisis and its effect on international economic trends”, Statistics Sweden writes in its report.

The machinery and transport equipment sector, accounting for nearly half of Swedish exports, decreased in volume by 29 percent.

Exports of cars plunged 62 percent while exports of all kinds of road vehicles, including spare parts, dropped 56 percent.

Electronic products such as IT and telecommunications equipment decreased by 5 percent during the quarter.

The minerals sector decreased by a full 37 percent in volume. Within the sector, steel fell by 46 percent while iron ore dropped 54 percent.

The value in current prices during the first quarter dropped by 18.8 percent for exports of goods and 17.7 percent for imports of goods.

According to OECD, total exports of goods from G7 countries fell by 7.9 percent in volume during the fourth quarter of 2008, compared to the same quarter of 2007.