Sweden Q3 GDP Growth Eases Less Than Forecast; Retail Sales Fall Further

(RTTNews) - Sweden's economic growth slowed less-than-expected in the three months ended September, preliminary figures from Statistics Sweden showed on Friday.

Another report from the statistical office showed that retail sales volume decreased for the fifth straight month in September.

Gross domestic product grew 2.6 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, slower than the 4.2 percent expansion in the second quarter. That was above the expected increase of 2.4 percent.

Further, the latest rate of growth was the weakest in the current sequence of expansion that began in the second quarter of 2021.

On a quarterly basis, GDP advanced 0.7 percent in the September quarter, following a 1.4 percent rebound in the previous quarter. In contrast, economists had forecast a 0.1 percent contraction for the third quarter.

The economy grew a seasonally adjusted 1.0 percent in September versus a 1.2 percent fall seen in August. On an annual basis, GDP growth moderated to 2.5 percent in September from 3.4 percent a month ago.

Separate data showed that retail sales dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent monthly in September, the same rate of fall as in August.

Retail sales of consumables declined 0.7 percent from August, while sales of durables fell marginally by 0.1 percent.

On a yearly basis, retail sales slipped 5.9 percent in September, following a 5.4 percent drop in the preceding month. It was also the fifth successive monthly fall.