Swedish Economy Shrinks 0.9% In Q4, More Than Estimated

(RTTNews) - Sweden's economy contracted more than initially estimated in the fourth quarter of 2022, largely led by the decreased capital formation in fixed assets and inventories,latest figures from Statistics Sweden showed on Tuesday.

Gross domestic product declined 0.9 percent sequentially in the December quarter, reversing a revised 0.2 percent rise in the previous three months.

The fourth quarter figure was revised from a 0.6 percent decline in the flash report published on January 30.

On a yearly basis, the economy also shrank 0.9 percent in the fourth quarter, in contrast to a revised 2.7 percent expansion in the preceding three-month period.

In the initial estimate, the rate of contraction was 0.6 percent. Further, this was the first annual contraction since the second quarter of 2021.

On the expenditure side, gross fixed capital formation dropped 0.8 percent compared to the third quarter. The largest negative contribution came from investments in buildings and construction.

Changes in inventories contributed negatively to GDP growth by 0.7 percentage points, the agency said.

Household final consumption expenditure dropped 0.2 percent, while general government spending advanced 0.2 percent.  

During the year 2022, overall GDP expanded 2.4 percent compared with 2021.

Another report showed that the country's foreign trade balance turned to a surplus of SEK 11.1 billion in January from a deficit of SEK 1.1 billion in the corresponding month last year.

In December, the trade balance showed a shortfall of SEK 2.8 billion.

The value of exports logged an annual growth of 22.0 percent in January, and imports climbed at a comparatively slower pace of 13.0 percent.

Trade in goods with countries outside the European Union resulted in a surplus of SEK 18.3 billion, while EU trade resulted in a deficit of SEK 7.2 billion.

Separate official data revealed that the unemployment rate in Sweden dropped to 7.5 percent in 2022 from 8.8 percent in 2021. The employment rate rose by 1.7 percent to 69.0 percent.

There were 419,000 unemployed people in 2022, which indicates a decline of 69,000 compared to the previous year.