18/06/2023
Swedish inflation dipped below 10 percent in May, official statistics showed on Wednesday, but costs for certain goods and services rose unexpectedly with some analysts suggesting superstar Beyonce had tipped the scales.
Consumer prices rose by 9.7 percent in May year-on-year, down from 10.5 percent in April, the first time inflation came in under 10 percent in more than six months.
“Continued decrease in electricity and food prices contributed to the lower inflation rate in May,” Mikael Nordin, statistician at Statistics Sweden, said in a statement.
At the same time, costs of certain goods and services rose, “for instance hotel and restaurant visits, recreational services, and clothing”, the agency said.
According to Michael Grahn, chief economist for Sweden at Danske Bank, “Beyonce’s start of her world tour in Sweden seems to have coloured May inflation, how much is uncertain.”
Grahn said in a post to social media that her much-hyped concerts in May “probably” accounted for 0.2 of the 0.3 percentage points added to inflation by hotels and restaurant prices.
Tens of thousands of fans flocked to Stockholm in the middle of May to catch the two concerts that kicked off her first solo tour in seven years.
