2023-06-16 08:57:20
The high levels of inflation reached by Sweden last month are related to the concerts that the American singer Beyoncé gave that month in Stockholm, argues a Swedish economist.
Inflation, measured in the consumer price index (CPI), was 9.7% in May, compared to the same month of the previous year, which represents a decrease compared to 10.5% in April, According to data released by the Central Statistical Office (SCB), but above analysts’ expectations.
The fall in electricity and food prices contributed to lowering inflation, but the rise in services, culture, hotels and restaurants, among others, softened the general decline.
According to Michael Grahn, the chief Swedish economist at Danske Bank, main Danish bank but also with a presence in Sweden, this effect has to do with the two concerts that Beyoncé gave in Stockholm in May and that marked the beginning of her world tour “Renaissance World Tour”, the first solo tour of the artist in seven years.
“The start of Beyoncé’s world tour in Sweden appears to have influenced May inflation, how much is uncertain, but probably 0.2 or 0.3 percentage points of what was contributed by the hotels. Maybe concert prices went up too,” Grahn wrote on his Twitter account, in a comment that has gone viral.
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As the economist explains in a video on the Danske Bank website, the concerts, which brought together some 90,000 people in total, part of them coming from abroad, caused a depletion of hotel rooms in the Stockholm area and a “real” increase in prices.
“We expect this surprise rise to reverse in June, once hotel and ticket prices return to their normal level,” Grahn said.
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