Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Monday
Property price expectations are improving, but Christmas food in Sweden will cost you more this year than ever before. Here's Sweden's news on Monday.
Fewer Swedes believe property prices will fall
SEB Bank's new property price indicator shows that fewer Swedish households expect prices to drop.
In December, 29 percent of respondents expected prices to drop next year, four percentage points less than last month.
The number of respondents expecting unchanged property prices in 2024 increased by three percentage points to 26 percent, while the number who expected prices to go up remained the same at 33 percent.
"Hitting the interest rate peak has given some breathing room to households' expectations for property prices," SEB private economist Américo Fernández said in a comment to TT newswire.
"Most indicators do however point towards a downward pressure on property prices over the next six months, meaning that improved expectations could be short term."
Households believe that the key interest rate will be at 4.13 percent in a year's time, according to the property price indicator, 0.26 percentage points lower than predicted last month.
Seven percent of households plan to switch from a variable to a fixed mortgage rate, an increase of one percentage point.
Swedish vocabulary: bostadspriserna - (the) property prices
Christmas food this year more expensive than ever
This year, a standard basket of 100 Swedish Christmas groceries is more expensive than its ever been, according to independent price comparison site Matpriskollen.
The site 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.
Swedish Christmas food is similar to Easter and Midsummer food, meaning that eggs and fish are both essentials. Unfortunately, these items have also gone up in price - eggs by 37 percent over two years and salmon by 44 percent.
Mayonnaise and rice pudding both increased by 48 percent, while Edam cheese, a classic Swedish Christmas item, has seen a price increase of 41 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.
Swedish vocabulary: julkassen - bag/selection of Christmas groceries
More young people using snus, despite age limit
At least one in four upper high school students in Sweden are using white snus, a variant of the small nicotine pouches placed under the upper lip, according to new figures from the Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN).
"We can see that the usage of white snus is continuing to increase this year, despite an age limit being introduced in August 2022," CAN researcher Siri Thor said in a press statement.
White snus differs from traditional snus in that it does not contain tobacco, although it is still highly addictive and is often marketed to young people in particular with bright colours and fruity flavours. Since August last year, it is only legally available to over-18s.
CAN's yearly report shows that 13 percent of children in year nine - 16-year-olds - used white snus within the last 30 days, with the number increasing to 24 percent for students in higher secondary education (gymnasium), usually aged around 16-19.
When it comes to other drugs, a small number of students were responsible for a large amount of consumption - 7 percent of year nines and 15 percent of gymnasium students said that they had used drugs at some point.
Swedish vocabulary: narkotika - drugs
Iran accuses jailed Swedish EU diplomat of conspiring with Israel
Iranian authorities have accused a Swedish EU diplomat, held in a Tehran prison for more than 600 days, of conspiring with Iran's arch-enemy Israel, the judiciary said Sunday.
"Johan Floderus is accused of extensive measures against the security of the country, extensive intelligence cooperation with the Zionist regime and corruption on earth," the judiciary's Mizan Online news agency said.
Corruption on earth is one of Iran's most serious offences and carries a maximum penalty of death.
Floderus, 33, was arrested on April 17th, 2022, at Tehran airport as he was returning to Iran from a trip with friends.
The Swede, who works for the European Union diplomatic service, is being held in Tehran's Evin prison.
His arrest came while an Iranian national, Hamid Noury, was being tried in Sweden over the mass executions of dissidents in Tehran in 1988 -- ultimately receiving a life sentence in July 2022.
The Court of Appeals in Sweden is expected to announce a verdict in the case on December 19th.
Swedish vocabulary: dödsstraff - the death penalty
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Fewer Swedes believe property prices will fall
SEB Bank's new property price indicator shows that fewer Swedish households expect prices to drop.
In December, 29 percent of respondents expected prices to drop next year, four percentage points less than last month.
The number of respondents expecting unchanged property prices in 2024 increased by three percentage points to 26 percent, while the number who expected prices to go up remained the same at 33 percent.
"Hitting the interest rate peak has given some breathing room to households' expectations for property prices," SEB private economist Américo Fernández said in a comment to TT newswire.
"Most indicators do however point towards a downward pressure on property prices over the next six months, meaning that improved expectations could be short term."
Households believe that the key interest rate will be at 4.13 percent in a year's time, according to the property price indicator, 0.26 percentage points lower than predicted last month.
Seven percent of households plan to switch from a variable to a fixed mortgage rate, an increase of one percentage point.
Swedish vocabulary: bostadspriserna - (the) property prices
Christmas food this year more expensive than ever
This year, a standard basket of 100 Swedish Christmas groceries is more expensive than its ever been, according to independent price comparison site Matpriskollen.
The site 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.
Swedish Christmas food is similar to Easter and Midsummer food, meaning that eggs and fish are both essentials. Unfortunately, these items have also gone up in price - eggs by 37 percent over two years and salmon by 44 percent.
Mayonnaise and rice pudding both increased by 48 percent, while Edam cheese, a classic Swedish Christmas item, has seen a price increase of 41 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.
Swedish vocabulary: julkassen - bag/selection of Christmas groceries
More young people using snus, despite age limit
At least one in four upper high school students in Sweden are using white snus, a variant of the small nicotine pouches placed under the upper lip, according to new figures from the Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN).
"We can see that the usage of white snus is continuing to increase this year, despite an age limit being introduced in August 2022," CAN researcher Siri Thor said in a press statement.
White snus differs from traditional snus in that it does not contain tobacco, although it is still highly addictive and is often marketed to young people in particular with bright colours and fruity flavours. Since August last year, it is only legally available to over-18s.
CAN's yearly report shows that 13 percent of children in year nine - 16-year-olds - used white snus within the last 30 days, with the number increasing to 24 percent for students in higher secondary education (gymnasium), usually aged around 16-19.
When it comes to other drugs, a small number of students were responsible for a large amount of consumption - 7 percent of year nines and 15 percent of gymnasium students said that they had used drugs at some point.
Swedish vocabulary: narkotika - drugs
Iran accuses jailed Swedish EU diplomat of conspiring with Israel
Iranian authorities have accused a Swedish EU diplomat, held in a Tehran prison for more than 600 days, of conspiring with Iran's arch-enemy Israel, the judiciary said Sunday.
"Johan Floderus is accused of extensive measures against the security of the country, extensive intelligence cooperation with the Zionist regime and corruption on earth," the judiciary's Mizan Online news agency said.
Corruption on earth is one of Iran's most serious offences and carries a maximum penalty of death.
Floderus, 33, was arrested on April 17th, 2022, at Tehran airport as he was returning to Iran from a trip with friends.
The Swede, who works for the European Union diplomatic service, is being held in Tehran's Evin prison.
His arrest came while an Iranian national, Hamid Noury, was being tried in Sweden over the mass executions of dissidents in Tehran in 1988 -- ultimately receiving a life sentence in July 2022.
The Court of Appeals in Sweden is expected to announce a verdict in the case on December 19th.
Swedish vocabulary: dödsstraff - the death penalty
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