Sweden GDP growth slows more than forecast
2014-05-30 11:18:40
Sweden's economic growth slowed much more than expected in the first quarter, official data revealed Friday.
Gross domestic product grew only 1.9 percent in the first quarter from the same period of last year, Statistics Sweden reported. Economists had forecast the growth rate to slow to 2.3 percent from 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013.
On the expenditure side, household consumption grew 2.1 percent and government spending climbed 1.4 percent. Investment advanced strongly by 7.7 percent. At the same time, exports were up 3 percent and imports grew 5.2 percent.
Meanwhile, changes in inventories decreased the GDP growth by 0.1 percentage points.
Quarter-on-quarter, GDP slid by seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent in the first quarter, while it was forecast to remain flat.
GDP growth for the whole year of 2013 was revised to 1.6 percent from 1.5 percent.