Key Points
- Sweden's inflation experienced an unexpected lift in May, data shows.
- One economist thinks pop superstar Beyoncé had a role to play in it.
- Tens of thousands of fans flocked to Stockholm to catch the two concerts that kicked off Beyoncé's Renaissance tour.
Inflation in Sweden dipped under 10 per cent in May, official statistics showed, but was still higher than expected, with some analysts suggesting superstar Beyoncé had tipped the scales.
Consumer prices rose by 9.7 per cent in May year-on-year, down from 10.5 per cent in April, the first time inflation came in under 10 per cent in over six months.
According to Michael Grahn, chief economist for Sweden at Danske Bank, a visit by Beyoncé to Stockholm could explain the unexpected rise.
The pop superstar launched her first solo tour in seven years in Stockholm on 10 May. Tens of thousands of fans flocked to the city to catch the two concerts that kicked off the Renaissance world tour.
"Beyoncé's start of her world tour in Sweden seems to have coloured May inflation, how much is uncertain," Mr Grahn said in a post on social media.
Mr Grahn added that her much-hyped concert in May "probably" accounted for 0.2 of the 0.3 percentage points added to inflation by hotels and restaurant prices.
Inflation peaked in December at 12.3 per cent - a more than 30-year high - then slowed slightly in January to 11.7 per cent, but unexpectedly spiked back to 12 per cent in February.
Mr Grahn was later quoted in Financial Times, where he described the effect as "astonishing" for a single event.
“Beyoncé is responsible for the extra upside surprise this month. It’s quite astonishing for a single event. We haven’t seen this before,” he told FT.
"Continued decrease in electricity and food prices contributed to the lower inflation rate in May," Mikael Nordin, a statistician at Statistics Sweden, said.
At the same time, costs of certain goods and services rose, "for instance, hotel and restaurant visits, recreational services, and clothing," the agency said.
Like its peers in the United States and Europe, Sweden's central bank has repeatedly hiked its guiding rate in an effort to rein in inflation.
The Riksbank raised the rate to 3.5 per cent in late April and said it would "probably" raise it by another quarter-point in June or September.
The consumer price index with a fixed interest rate (CPIF) - the figure used by the Riksbank to guide monetary policy - was 6.7 per cent in May, compared to 7.6 per cent in April.
For 2023 as a whole, the central bank expects the Swedish economy to contract 0.7 per cent and has forecast unadjusted inflation of 8.9 per cent and rising unemployment.
