Sweden posts trade deficit for the first time in years, as an expensive currency makes exports less attractive.

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• Sweden's economy continues to build up

The Swedish trade balance slipped into the red in August, posting a deficit of 2.8 billion kronor (306 billion euros, 411 billion dollars), according to official statistics published Monday.

Compared to August a year ago, exports swelled by 15 percent to 85.3 billion kronor while imports skyrocketed 27 percent to 88.1 billion, Statistics Sweden said.

The Swedish krona has significantly appreciated compared to the euro and dollar in recent months, making the Scandinavian country's exports more expensive and thus less attractive.

"The hike in imports could also be a sign that consumption has increased sharply and that stocks are on the rebound," SEB analyst Olle Holmgren told the TT news agency.

Monday's figures marked the first time in years that Sweden, which managed to keep its trade balance in the black throughout the global financial crisis, has reported a trade deficit.

Observers however stress that the statistics are preliminary and that August could remain an exception.

For the first eight months of the year, Sweden's trade surplus, which has been declining for years, shrank to 40.6 billion kronor from 69.4 billion during the same period a year earlier.

From January to August, Sweden saw its export income jump 12 percent to 728.2 billion kronor while the cost of imports swelled 18 percent to 687.6 billion.

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