Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1938, Page 155

INTER-NORTHERN COMMERCE
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Norway, and Sweden is not only furthered by the presence of raw
materials like wood and iron, but also by easy access to water
power. Norway has more potential water power than any other
European state, and Sweden has more than Greater Germany.
The enormous water power resources of Iceland have never been
gauged and are hardly utilized at all, but the day may come when
they will form the basis of new industries demanding copious and
cheap power. During the last few decades, the industrial value of
water power has been signally demonstrated in many areas which
are not rich in coal. Denmark, on the other hand, lacks both coal
and water power, a fact which greatly reduces her natural in-
dustrial potentialities.
At the first blush it might thus seem that the natural different-
iation of potentialities in the Northern countries might make
it an obvious thing for them to supplement each other’s produc-
tion by an exchange of goods. Nevertheless, if we turn to the
statistics of their foreign trade we shall find that they are not
each other’s best customers.
Out of the total imports of Denmark during 1936, 2.9 per
cent. came from Norway, 6.8 per cent. from Sweden, 0.3 per
cent. from Iceland, and 1.6 per cent. from Finland, i. e. a total
of 11.6 per cent. from all the Northern countries. Out of the
total Danish export of goods of domestic origin, 3.3 per cent.
went to Norway, 4.5 per cent. to Sweden, 0.3 per cent. to Ice-
land, and 1.5 per cent. to Finland, that is a total of 9.6 per cent.
to the Northern countries. Out of the total Norwegian import
trade during the same year 18.6 per cent. came from the Northern
countries, while these took 14.8 per cent. of the Norwegian ex-
ports. The corresponding figures for Sweden were 11.1 per cent.
of the imports and 16.3 per cent. of the exports; for Finland they
were 18.8 per cent. of the imports and 10.o per cent of the ex-
ports. In 1935 Iceland received 39.2 per cent. of her imports from
the Northern countries, to which she sent 27.6 per cent. of her
exports. It will thus be seen that the trade with the rest of the
North plays a greater part in the economy of Iceland than in
that of the other Northern States. Unfortunately, Denmark’s part
in the trade of Iceland is on the decrease, though on the other
hand that of Sweden is increasing. For all the Northern countries
except Iceland it holds good that their trade with Great Britain
exceeds their trade with the whole of the North. In addition,
Denmark’s and Sweden’s trade with Germany also exceeds their
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