Last month Sweden recorded the lowest level of business activity in the manufacturing sector for the last 3 years, writes the newspaper Aftonbaldet. Moreover, the decline has been observed for the last ten months in a row, when sanctions against Russia were imposed. Economists comment on the latest statistics with the words “a cold shower for Swedish industry”.
According to Swedbank experts, who compile a monthly index of business activity in the Swedish manufacturing sector, the manufacturing industry of the Northern European country is currently on its knees. The index, which measures the state of Sweden’s industrial economy, was 40.6% in May, down from 45.5% the previous month. This is the lowest level in the last 3 years, and the decline itself is observed for the tenth month in a row, according to the newspaper Aftonbladet.
If the index falls below 50%, it indicates a decrease in business activity in the industry, if higher, then, respectively, the growth. Swedish companies, whose index fell to 47.8 percent in May, the lowest level since the pandemic of 2020, continue to cut their production plans, the paper reported.
“This is a surprisingly broad and voluminous decline that shows that our industrial economy continues to weaken. We see the same thing in the eurozone countries, and especially in Germany,” lamented Swedbank economist Jörgen Kennemar He called the latest statistics “a cold shower for Swedish industry.”
Jörgen Kennemar is also worried that the current weakness of the Swedish krona may worsen the industrial decline and accelerate inflation. The euro zone’s manufacturing business activity index rose slightly to 44.8% in May. In Germany, the index rose from 42.9% to 43.2% in May, and in France there was a decline from 46.1% to 45.7%, the article notes.
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