Housing and food are becoming increasingly expensive for the Swedes – but petrol has become much cheaper

At the same time as the price of fuel has fallen by 22 per cent in one year, housing costs and food prices are going in the opposite direction. This is shown by figures from the Swedish Statistical Agency (SCB), which were published on Thursday.

In October, housing expenditure had increased by as much as 5.4 per cent compared to a year earlier, while food prices had risen by 1.7 per cent.

The price increase is particularly large for goods such as milk and butter, while fruit and vegetables have become somewhat cheaper. A restaurant visit in Sweden in October was on average 4.4 per cent more expensive than a year ago, writes SVT.

At the same time, Swedes can enjoy a much lower consumer price index than a year ago. In October, it landed at 1.6 percent, exactly the same as in September. The figure is completely in line with the preliminary calculation that SCB published a week earlier.

However, the so-called CPIF target, where the interest rate effect is not included, shows a higher price weight in October compared to September, of 1.5 versus 1.1 per cent respectively.

The Swedish authorities aim to keep inflation stable at 2 percent.

Last year, inflation was 6.5 per cent in October compared to a year earlier, and a few months earlier it was as much as 12 per cent.

But after a series of interest rate cuts from the Riksbank, the rate of inflation has been greatly reduced. The key interest rate in Sweden is currently 2.75 per cent, while it was 4 per cent a year ago.