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Swedish economy: Second quarter sees larger economic growth than expected

According to Nasdaq, the economy of Sweden has surpassed expectations during the second quarter of 2021.

Sweden’s GDP grew 0.9 percent during the second quarter of 2021 compared to 2020, notes a preliminary calculation by Statistics Sweden. The original prediction was set for 0.7 percent.

Melker Loberg, an economist at Statistics Sweden, states, “The growth rate compared with the previous year is the highest we have measured in our time series for Sweden’s GDP, which should be seen against the background that the economy a year ago was hit hard by the pandemic.”

It was pointed out by a chief analyst at Nordea, Torbjörn Isaksson, that the growth is high above the forecasts from Sweden’s central bank, which predicted 0.4 percent compared with the first quarter and 8.8 percent year-on-year. Isaksson stated that Sweden’s GDP was 2 percent higher in June this year than before the COVID-19 hit.

Isaksson states that several factors come into play for driving development. “There is a lot of money in the economy. Interest rates are low and look set to be low for a long time to come, stock market prices are at record levels, households are borrowing money like never before and demand is strong,” explained Isaksson.