Sweden reported higher-than-expected inflation of 9.7% in May
Forget the supply chain issues or the Russia-Ukraine war, Swedish economists believe that higher-than-expected inflation in May was because of Beyonce. A senior economist has suggested that the twin concerts performed by singer Beyonce in Stockholm last month may have caused Swedish inflation to rise, New York Times reported.
Notably, the music icon kicked off her Renaissance world tour in Stockholm last month, on May 10 and 11. Music lovers from across the world flocked to the Swedish capital to see the icon live in action, pushing up the prices of hotel rooms and restaurant bookings. Estimates put the crowd at each concert at 46,000, with some forced to stay outside the capital as hotels filled up.
According to a BBC report, Sweden reported higher-than-expected inflation of 9.7% in May, down from 10.5 % in April.
From April to May, monthly inflation in Sweden increased by 0.3 percentage points, partially due to ''a broad set of goods and services, for instance, hotel and restaurant visits and recreational services,'' which include concert tickets, as per data from Statistics Sweden.
''Beyonce is responsible for the extra upside surprise this month. It's quite astonishing for a single event. We haven't seen this before,'' Michael Grahn, Danske Bank's chief economist in Sweden told the Financial Times.
In a tweet, Mr Grahn wrote, ''Beyonce's start of her world tour in Sweden seems to have coloured May inflation, how much is uncertain, but probably 0.2 p.p. of the 0.3 p.p that hotels/restaurants added. Perhaps also hiked concert ticket prices.'' He added that he expects the situation to go back to normal in June.
Statistics showed that restaurants and hotels added 0.3 percentage points to the May figure, while recreation and culture contributed 0.2 percentage points.
"Additional contributions to the positive inflation rate came from clothing, household goods, recreational services, hotel, and restaurant visits, as well as miscellaneous goods and services," according to official government data.
Visitors from the United States, Germany, and Britain accounted for the largest number of bookings in the city, taking advantage of the weak Swedish currency and lower ticket prices, as per Washington Post.
Beyonce is on the Renaissance World Tour, the ninth concert tour by the American singer-songwriter who is famous for hits such as 'Halo', 'Crazy in Love', 'Single Ladies', 'Run the World', 'Bills, Bills, Bills, etc.
An economist told the Financial Times that Sweden might experience a similar inflation bump when Bruce Springsteen plays three nights of concerts in Gothenburg in June.