Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
No military guarantees if Sweden is attacked, inflation hits 12 percent, Swedes buying less organic food, possible language reform and the Swedish companies which have left Russia. Here's Sweden's news on Thursday.
Swedish consumers buying less organic food
As customers in Swedish supermarkets look for cheaper food, the interest in organic food is dwindling. Many of Sweden's organic farmers have been forced to reconsider their business models, with organic production equivalent to over 100 farms disappearing over the last year, according to a new report from Organic Sweden, Krav, Ekologiska Lantbrukerna and Ekomatcentrum.
"Sales have been stagnant for a few years, but this year we're seeing a drastic decline," said Ida Lind, marking and sustainability expert at Ekologiska Lantbrukerna.
Last year, 6.1 percent of all food sold in Swedish supermarkets was organic. The year before, it was 6.9 percent, and in 2019, this figure was 7.8 percent. Organic fruits and vegetables, organic eggs and organic dairy products are the groups which have declined the most.
During 2022, sales of organic produce decreased in many countries due to increased food prices, but the fact that sales in Sweden were already declining as early as 2017 is unusual, Lind said.
"It's very unique, that hasn't happened in any other EU country."
The reason for this, Lind believes, is that there has been a large focus placed on buying Swedish produce, which she cites as the "biggest competitor" for organic producers.
"People have forgotten that you can have Swedish and organic at the same time."
Swedish vocabulary: ekomat - organic food, ekologisk - organic
Swedish inflation spikes to 12 percent
Swedish inflation defied the central bank's mitigating rate hikes, unexpectedly spiking to 12 percent in February, according to official statistics, fuelling expectations of a contracting economy.
Facing a drop in the value of the krona, Sweden is now experiencing one of the highest inflation rates in Europe, and the highest outside of Eastern Europe.
After being inflated by energy prices in the autumn, the hike in prices is now being driven by food costs, which are rising at a level not seen since the 1950s, according to Statistics Sweden (SCB).
Inflation peaked in December at 12.3 percent -- a more than 30-year high -- then slowed down slightly in January to 11.7 percent.
Economists expected inflation to remain at January levels, but not to accelerate.
In the euro area, inflation slowed in February for the fourth consecutive month to 8.5 percent.
Trying to rein in inflation, the Riksbank -- Sweden's central bank -- has repeatedly hiked its guiding rate.
The key rate has increased from zero in April last year to 3.0 percent, with another hike of 0.25 percentage points expected next month and potentially another in June.
For 2023 as a whole, the central bank expects the Swedish economy to contract 1.1 percent, unadjusted inflation of 8.6 percent and rising unemployment, according to its latest forecast in February.
In the European Commission's latest forecast, Sweden is the only EU country expected to see its economy contract this year.
Swedish vocabulary: lågkonjunktur - recession
No military guarantees if Sweden is attacked
As the last alliance-free country in the Baltic, Sweden risks ending up in a vulnerable position if Finland joins Nato alone. None of the "security assurances" or defence cooperation agreements which Sweden is party to bind other countries to help Sweden militarily if it were attacked.
Howeever, Nato could have a vested interest in protecting Sweden.
If Sweden were threatened by Russia, there are not currently any guarantees that other countries would come to Sweden's aid, Jacob Westberg, associate professor at Sweden's Defence University told TT newswire.
He explained that the "security assurances" Sweden has been given from heavyweight Nato countries like the USA, UK and Germany are just that - assurances - and not guarantees.
Westerberg did underline, however, that Russia are currently tied up in Ukraine, and few believe that Sweden should fear a military attack in the near future.
If the threat to Sweden were to increase, it remains to be seen what these "security assurances" would mean in practice, he said.
"It's better than nothing, but they're security assurances and not guarantees, after all," he said.
"As far as I'm aware, these assurances haven't been followed up with preparation for how Sweden would receive different types of military support from these states. That means that any eventual assistance that arrived would be improvised."
Swedish vocabulary: säkerhetsförsäkringar - security assurances
Is Sweden about to carry out its biggest language reform in 50 years?
The Swedish words 'de' and 'dem' could be replaced by 'dom' if the new leader of Sweden's Language Council gets her way.
‘De’ and ‘dem’ are the cause of one of the most common mistakes in written Swedish, where even Swedish native speakers are often unsure which one they should use.
The reason for the confusion in Swedish is simple: both ‘de’ and ‘dem’ are pronounced ‘dom’ in spoken Swedish, meaning that you’ll often see ‘dom’ used instead of ‘de’ or ‘dem’ in informal written Swedish, such as in texts and on social media.
This is the key argument for upcoming leader of the Swedish Language Council, Lena Lind Palicki’s plans to reform ‘de’ and ‘dem’, officially replacing them with ‘dom’ in written Swedish.
“It’s part of a natural language development as we’ve stopped making this distinction in speech,” she told public broadcaster SVT.
Swedish vocabulary: de - they, dem - them
Which Swedish companies have yet to exit Russia?
Sweden ranks sixth out of the 30 major investors in Russia in terms of how many of its major companies have decided to exit the country since the invasion of Ukraine, according to an analysis by the KSE Institute. But some big companies, such as Alfa Laval and Essity are still doing business.
According to the #Leaverussia project, run by the Kiev School of Economics (KSE), Sweden ranks just behind Finland, Ukraine, Ireland, and Lithuania in terms of the percentage of major companies which have announced an intention to leave Russia.
When it comes to the share of companies which have actually fully exited Russia, Sweden ranks fifth, behind Denmark, Norway, Ireland and Finland.
According to the project, 59 percent of Swedish companies had taken a decision to leave Russia, 12 percent had already exited, 19 percent were classed as ‘waiting’, and 10 percent had taken an active decision to continue operations in some form.
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Swedish consumers buying less organic food
As customers in Swedish supermarkets look for cheaper food, the interest in organic food is dwindling. Many of Sweden's organic farmers have been forced to reconsider their business models, with organic production equivalent to over 100 farms disappearing over the last year, according to a new report from Organic Sweden, Krav, Ekologiska Lantbrukerna and Ekomatcentrum.
"Sales have been stagnant for a few years, but this year we're seeing a drastic decline," said Ida Lind, marking and sustainability expert at Ekologiska Lantbrukerna.
Last year, 6.1 percent of all food sold in Swedish supermarkets was organic. The year before, it was 6.9 percent, and in 2019, this figure was 7.8 percent. Organic fruits and vegetables, organic eggs and organic dairy products are the groups which have declined the most.
During 2022, sales of organic produce decreased in many countries due to increased food prices, but the fact that sales in Sweden were already declining as early as 2017 is unusual, Lind said.
"It's very unique, that hasn't happened in any other EU country."
The reason for this, Lind believes, is that there has been a large focus placed on buying Swedish produce, which she cites as the "biggest competitor" for organic producers.
"People have forgotten that you can have Swedish and organic at the same time."
Swedish vocabulary: ekomat - organic food, ekologisk - organic
Swedish inflation spikes to 12 percent
Swedish inflation defied the central bank's mitigating rate hikes, unexpectedly spiking to 12 percent in February, according to official statistics, fuelling expectations of a contracting economy.
Facing a drop in the value of the krona, Sweden is now experiencing one of the highest inflation rates in Europe, and the highest outside of Eastern Europe.
After being inflated by energy prices in the autumn, the hike in prices is now being driven by food costs, which are rising at a level not seen since the 1950s, according to Statistics Sweden (SCB).
Inflation peaked in December at 12.3 percent -- a more than 30-year high -- then slowed down slightly in January to 11.7 percent.
Economists expected inflation to remain at January levels, but not to accelerate.
In the euro area, inflation slowed in February for the fourth consecutive month to 8.5 percent.
Trying to rein in inflation, the Riksbank -- Sweden's central bank -- has repeatedly hiked its guiding rate.
The key rate has increased from zero in April last year to 3.0 percent, with another hike of 0.25 percentage points expected next month and potentially another in June.
For 2023 as a whole, the central bank expects the Swedish economy to contract 1.1 percent, unadjusted inflation of 8.6 percent and rising unemployment, according to its latest forecast in February.
In the European Commission's latest forecast, Sweden is the only EU country expected to see its economy contract this year.
Swedish vocabulary: lågkonjunktur - recession
No military guarantees if Sweden is attacked
As the last alliance-free country in the Baltic, Sweden risks ending up in a vulnerable position if Finland joins Nato alone. None of the "security assurances" or defence cooperation agreements which Sweden is party to bind other countries to help Sweden militarily if it were attacked.
Howeever, Nato could have a vested interest in protecting Sweden.
If Sweden were threatened by Russia, there are not currently any guarantees that other countries would come to Sweden's aid, Jacob Westberg, associate professor at Sweden's Defence University told TT newswire.
He explained that the "security assurances" Sweden has been given from heavyweight Nato countries like the USA, UK and Germany are just that - assurances - and not guarantees.
Westerberg did underline, however, that Russia are currently tied up in Ukraine, and few believe that Sweden should fear a military attack in the near future.
If the threat to Sweden were to increase, it remains to be seen what these "security assurances" would mean in practice, he said.
"It's better than nothing, but they're security assurances and not guarantees, after all," he said.
"As far as I'm aware, these assurances haven't been followed up with preparation for how Sweden would receive different types of military support from these states. That means that any eventual assistance that arrived would be improvised."
Swedish vocabulary: säkerhetsförsäkringar - security assurances
Is Sweden about to carry out its biggest language reform in 50 years?
The Swedish words 'de' and 'dem' could be replaced by 'dom' if the new leader of Sweden's Language Council gets her way.
‘De’ and ‘dem’ are the cause of one of the most common mistakes in written Swedish, where even Swedish native speakers are often unsure which one they should use.
The reason for the confusion in Swedish is simple: both ‘de’ and ‘dem’ are pronounced ‘dom’ in spoken Swedish, meaning that you’ll often see ‘dom’ used instead of ‘de’ or ‘dem’ in informal written Swedish, such as in texts and on social media.
This is the key argument for upcoming leader of the Swedish Language Council, Lena Lind Palicki’s plans to reform ‘de’ and ‘dem’, officially replacing them with ‘dom’ in written Swedish.
“It’s part of a natural language development as we’ve stopped making this distinction in speech,” she told public broadcaster SVT.
Swedish vocabulary: de - they, dem - them
Which Swedish companies have yet to exit Russia?
Sweden ranks sixth out of the 30 major investors in Russia in terms of how many of its major companies have decided to exit the country since the invasion of Ukraine, according to an analysis by the KSE Institute. But some big companies, such as Alfa Laval and Essity are still doing business.
According to the #Leaverussia project, run by the Kiev School of Economics (KSE), Sweden ranks just behind Finland, Ukraine, Ireland, and Lithuania in terms of the percentage of major companies which have announced an intention to leave Russia.
When it comes to the share of companies which have actually fully exited Russia, Sweden ranks fifth, behind Denmark, Norway, Ireland and Finland.
According to the project, 59 percent of Swedish companies had taken a decision to leave Russia, 12 percent had already exited, 19 percent were classed as ‘waiting’, and 10 percent had taken an active decision to continue operations in some form.
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