Sweden's 2022 Midsummer celebrations set to be most expensive ever
Midsummer 2022 is set to be the most expensive since records began. Here are some tips on how you can spend less this year.
This year's SEB Bank's Midsummer Index of typical food and drinks bought for the holiday show a price increase of 11.7 percent on last year.
Even in comparison to other price indexes such as the wider Consumer Price Index, which increased by 7.3 percent this year, Midsummer foods have seen a major increase in price over the past year.
"Yes, it's really got a lot more expensive," said Marcus Widén, an economist at SEB Bank responsible for the bank's yearly Christmas and Midsummer Indexes, in a statement.
"Since the focus of Midsummer is food, the price increase on groceries has led to the cost of Midsummer celebrations becoming noticeably higher than last year. However, seeing as 2022 is the year where we can meet for the first time in two years with no restrictions at all, this won't stop people from meeting up with friends," he said.
'Put on an extra pot of potatoes'
However, Widén does have some tips for how to save some money on your Midsummer shopping this year.
"If you're planning on using our Midsummer Index as a guide for finding the cheapest items in terms of the lowest increase in price, the answer is obvious - herring and snaps have seen an increase of under one percent," he said.
"The price increase on drinks is also relatively low, but with longer processing times, it's probably just a matter of time before we start seeing an increase there, too."
"Even though the price of potatoes has increased by 15.5 percent, the cost is still low compared to many other food items. So if the other price increases are starting to hurt, put on an extra pot of potatoes," Widén said.
'Biggest increase in 40 years'
Another trick to save some money on your Midsummer party could be to choose tea instead of coffee.
"The fact is, that a price increase of almost 40 percent on coffee is the greatest we've seen in the 40 years we've had a continuous record, apart from autumn 1994 where the price of coffee increased by almost 64 percent," Widén said.
"Tea has only gone up by 8 percent."
Widén also pointed out the effects that increased fuel costs might have on Midsummer celebrations this year.
"If you want to minimise the effect of prices going up, you should choose public transport, walking or cycling," he said.
"Driving to a Midsummer party will be unusually expensive this year, mainly due to the fact that the price of fuel is 41 percent higher than it was a year ago."
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This year's SEB Bank's Midsummer Index of typical food and drinks bought for the holiday show a price increase of 11.7 percent on last year.
Even in comparison to other price indexes such as the wider Consumer Price Index, which increased by 7.3 percent this year, Midsummer foods have seen a major increase in price over the past year.
"Yes, it's really got a lot more expensive," said Marcus Widén, an economist at SEB Bank responsible for the bank's yearly Christmas and Midsummer Indexes, in a statement.
"Since the focus of Midsummer is food, the price increase on groceries has led to the cost of Midsummer celebrations becoming noticeably higher than last year. However, seeing as 2022 is the year where we can meet for the first time in two years with no restrictions at all, this won't stop people from meeting up with friends," he said.
'Put on an extra pot of potatoes'
However, Widén does have some tips for how to save some money on your Midsummer shopping this year.
"If you're planning on using our Midsummer Index as a guide for finding the cheapest items in terms of the lowest increase in price, the answer is obvious - herring and snaps have seen an increase of under one percent," he said.
"The price increase on drinks is also relatively low, but with longer processing times, it's probably just a matter of time before we start seeing an increase there, too."
"Even though the price of potatoes has increased by 15.5 percent, the cost is still low compared to many other food items. So if the other price increases are starting to hurt, put on an extra pot of potatoes," Widén said.
'Biggest increase in 40 years'
Another trick to save some money on your Midsummer party could be to choose tea instead of coffee.
"The fact is, that a price increase of almost 40 percent on coffee is the greatest we've seen in the 40 years we've had a continuous record, apart from autumn 1994 where the price of coffee increased by almost 64 percent," Widén said.
"Tea has only gone up by 8 percent."
Widén also pointed out the effects that increased fuel costs might have on Midsummer celebrations this year.
"If you want to minimise the effect of prices going up, you should choose public transport, walking or cycling," he said.
"Driving to a Midsummer party will be unusually expensive this year, mainly due to the fact that the price of fuel is 41 percent higher than it was a year ago."
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