Sweden's retail sales rose at the softer rate in August, and the trade deficit decreased, figures from Statistics Sweden showed on Monday.
Retail sales rose 3.0 percent year-on-year in August, after a 3.7 percent increase in July.
In June, retail sales rose 2.7 percent.
Retail sales in durables gained 3.1 percent in August, while those of consumables, excluding sales at the state-owned chain of liquor stores increased 1.6 percent.
On a monthly basis, retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent in August. Economists had expected a 1.0 percent rise.
The trade deficit decreased to SEK 1.6 billion in August from SEK 5.4 billion in the same month last year. In June, the trade surplus was SEK 4.0 billion.
Exports fell 9.0 percent annually in August and imports decreased 11.0 percent.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the trade surplus decreased to SEK 3.6 billion in August, compared with a surplus of SEK 4.0 billion in the previous month.
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