Swedish Christmas food more expensive in 2023 than ever before
This year, a standard basket of 100 Swedish Christmas groceries is more expensive than it’s ever been. But which items have gone up the most in price?
Traditional Swedish Christmas food is similar to Easter and Midsummer food, meaning that eggs and salmon are both essentials. Unfortunately, these items are much more expensive than two years ago, according to independent price comparison site Matpriskollen.
A pack of 15 eggs went up by 37 percent over two years (27 percent for six free range eggs) and salmon (both smoked and gravad) went up by 44 percent over the same time period.
The only items which saw a larger price increase than salmon over the last two years were mayonnaise (48.4 percent) and rice pudding (48 percent).
Other fishy products like herring, salted cod roe paste (Kalles kaviar) and ansjovis, the tinned sprats used for the traditional Janssons temptation potato casserole, also saw price hikes. Herring went up by between 26.6 and 26.8 percent depending on variety, while kaviar and ansjovis saw an increase of 30.1 and 26 percent, respectively.
Those who prefer to buy ready-made Janssons can expect to pay 13.2 percent more for a 600g frozen casserole than in 2021.
Moving on to meat, the classic julskinka Christmas ham will cost you between 7.2 and 8.5 percent more this year than it did on January 1st, 2022, depending on whether you cook it yourself or buy it pre-made.
- RECIPES: How to make four different kinds of Swedish Christmas ham
- How to make your own Swedish meatballs
A kilogram of minced beef and pork costs 22.3 percent more than two years ago, rising slightly less than a bag of frozen pre-made meatballs, which have increased in price by 23.4 percent.
Cheese has gone up too – blue cheese by around 24 percent depending on the specific variety, Brie by 29 percent, Cheddar by 19.1 percent and Edam (the classic Christmas cheese in Sweden) by a whopping 40.8 percent.
Butter has increased in price by between 14.9 percent and 19.3 percent depending on brand, crispbread by 22.6 percent and spiced wort bread by 15.6 percent.
At the other end of the scale, 2 kilograms of potatoes has gone up by just 1 percent since 2021, while drinks such as the traditional julmust soda going up by 8.3 percent, Coca-cola by 7.1 percent and low or no-alcohol beer increasing by around 6 percent.
Matpriskollen compared the price of 100 classic items with prices last year and in 2021, and after two years of major price increases on food, the only item which has risen by a "normal" amount is potatoes, which increased by just 1 percent over two years.
Lumpfish roe, the red caviar sold in Swedish supermarkets, was the only product to decrease in price over the last two years, dropping just 1 percent.
The entire basket of goods would set you back 4,146 kronor in 2023, compared with 3,963 kronor last year and 3,465 kronor in 2021, meaning that there has been an increase of around 20 percent over the last two years – 15 percent between 2021 and 2022, and 5 percent between 2022 and 2023.
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Traditional Swedish Christmas food is similar to Easter and Midsummer food, meaning that eggs and salmon are both essentials. Unfortunately, these items are much more expensive than two years ago, according to independent price comparison site Matpriskollen.
A pack of 15 eggs went up by 37 percent over two years (27 percent for six free range eggs) and salmon (both smoked and gravad) went up by 44 percent over the same time period.
The only items which saw a larger price increase than salmon over the last two years were mayonnaise (48.4 percent) and rice pudding (48 percent).
Other fishy products like herring, salted cod roe paste (Kalles kaviar) and ansjovis, the tinned sprats used for the traditional Janssons temptation potato casserole, also saw price hikes. Herring went up by between 26.6 and 26.8 percent depending on variety, while kaviar and ansjovis saw an increase of 30.1 and 26 percent, respectively.
Those who prefer to buy ready-made Janssons can expect to pay 13.2 percent more for a 600g frozen casserole than in 2021.
Moving on to meat, the classic julskinka Christmas ham will cost you between 7.2 and 8.5 percent more this year than it did on January 1st, 2022, depending on whether you cook it yourself or buy it pre-made.
- RECIPES: How to make four different kinds of Swedish Christmas ham
- How to make your own Swedish meatballs
A kilogram of minced beef and pork costs 22.3 percent more than two years ago, rising slightly less than a bag of frozen pre-made meatballs, which have increased in price by 23.4 percent.
Cheese has gone up too – blue cheese by around 24 percent depending on the specific variety, Brie by 29 percent, Cheddar by 19.1 percent and Edam (the classic Christmas cheese in Sweden) by a whopping 40.8 percent.
Butter has increased in price by between 14.9 percent and 19.3 percent depending on brand, crispbread by 22.6 percent and spiced wort bread by 15.6 percent.
At the other end of the scale, 2 kilograms of potatoes has gone up by just 1 percent since 2021, while drinks such as the traditional julmust soda going up by 8.3 percent, Coca-cola by 7.1 percent and low or no-alcohol beer increasing by around 6 percent.
Matpriskollen compared the price of 100 classic items with prices last year and in 2021, and after two years of major price increases on food, the only item which has risen by a "normal" amount is potatoes, which increased by just 1 percent over two years.
Lumpfish roe, the red caviar sold in Swedish supermarkets, was the only product to decrease in price over the last two years, dropping just 1 percent.
The entire basket of goods would set you back 4,146 kronor in 2023, compared with 3,963 kronor last year and 3,465 kronor in 2021, meaning that there has been an increase of around 20 percent over the last two years – 15 percent between 2021 and 2022, and 5 percent between 2022 and 2023.
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