Beyond the Russia-Ukraine conflict or supply chain problems, Swedish authorities think Beyonce is to blame for the nation’s higher-than-anticipated inflation in May.
Due to the high demand for hotel rooms and meals caused by the singer’s choice to launch her Renaissance tour from Stockholm in May, inflation increased by 0.2 percentage points.
Statistics Sweden released information on Wednesday showing that in May, the core inflation rate—which does not include energy prices—rose to 9.7%.
According to the analysts, restaurants, and hotels contributed 0.3 percentage points, and leisure and culture contributed 0.2 percentage points to the May total.
From 10.5 percent in April, experts had predicted that inflation would average about 9.4 percent. But they were really taken aback to learn that Beyonce’s influence was so pervasive in the nation. In Sweden, the rate of inflation peaked in December at 12.3%.
“Beyonce is responsible for the extra upside surprise this month”
“Beyoncé is responsible for the extra upside surprise this month. It’s quite astonishing for a single event. We haven’t seen this before,” said Michael Grahn, Danske’s chief economist in Sweden, who said that the singer was responsible for the rise of 0.2 percentage points.
The economists claimed that while major sporting events frequently shift the scales in favor of the higher side, it was uncommon for a single event to do so.
Tens of thousands of fans traveled to Stockholm in the middle of May to attend the two shows that served as the launch of her first solo tour in seven years. An estimated 46,000 people attended each show, with some having to stay outside the capital as hotels quickly filled up.
According to rumors, many fans came from outside to witness the performances because the tickets were less expensive and the Swedish krona was weak.
Grahn stated that the effect was “very rare” and that he anticipated things to return to normal in June in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
But when Bruce Springsteen performs three nights of concerts in Gothenburg in June, one economist told the Financial Times newspaper that Sweden would face a similar increase in inflation.
After Stockholm, Beyoncé visited many cities in Europe, including Brussels, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and London for five nights. Before traveling to Canada and the US, she has seven more performances in Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland. ()
