Beyoncé accused of rising inflation in Sweden

Beyoncé kicked off her Renaissance tour in the Swedish capital with two sold-out concerts. Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Europe

Beyoncé has been accused of keeping Swedish inflation stubbornly high after more than 40,000 fans flocked to Stockholm last month to watch the singer kick off her world tour.

Economists say the artist, who kicked off her Renaissance tour in the Swedish capital with two sold-out concerts, has fueled hotel and accommodation costs.

Beyoncé's first solo tour since 2016 has led to a sharp increase in the number of American tourists who came to the Scandinavian city to take advantage of the weak currency and cheaper tickets.

Official data showed inflation measured by the consumer price index (CPI) was 9.7% in May compared to 10.5% in April.

Sweden statistics added that core inflation, which excludes price volatility on energy and food, also turned out to be higher than expected. a rate of 8.2%.

Michael Gran, chief economist at Danske Bank in Sweden, calculated that the “Beyoncé effect” added “at least” 0.2 percentage points to the overall rate.

He said: “We can see this in Swedish ticket prices for events like this, which are up about 6% per month compared to the previous month.

“However, the main impact on inflation was the fact that all the fans needed somewhere to stay, which led to an increase in hotel prices by an average of 12% in May. In fact, her fans have vacuumed up hotels around Stockholm within a radius of about 40 miles, inflating hotel prices.”

Major sporting events such as the World Cup and the Olympics are often associated with a boost in economic activity. Mr. Gran said the impact of the two concerts on inflation was “very rare.”

The Swedish Riksbank was one of the last Western central banks to start raising interest rates, moving away from zero only in May last year.

The krona has recently been trading near a record low against the euro, complicating efforts to lower inflation as prices continue to rise much faster than the central bank's 2 percent inflation target.