Controversial corona strategy
The Swedish economy did not crash as much in the Corona crisis as that in other European countries.
Sweden is taking a special route in the pandemic.
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The gross domestic product in Sweden plummeted in the second quarter at a record pace of 8.6 percent to the first quarter, as the statistics office announced in Stockholm on Wednesday. During the global financial crisis at the end of 2008, it had only fallen by 3.8 percent. Sweden is taking a special route in the pandemic: most schools and many companies have remained open, while more drastic measures have been taken elsewhere.
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“The economic crisis in the first half of the year plays in a completely different league than the horror shows elsewhere in Europe,” said economist David Oxley from Capital Economics about the economic development in Sweden. For comparison: The euro zone as a whole fell by 12.1 percent in spring, the European Union by 11.9 percent. The German economy shrank by 10.1 percent, the Spanish by 18.5 percent and the Italian by 12.4 percent.
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However, the Swedish special way in the Corona crisis is controversial. At 5747, the number of fatalities is quite high – compared to its Nordic neighbors, for example. According to Johns Hopkins University, 256 people have died in Norway in connection with Covid-19, 331 in Finland and 616 in Denmark. The unemployment rate is also low in Sweden currently 9.2 percent above the euro zone average of 7.8 percent after it had been reversed for years.
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(Reuters)
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