Swedish Economy Outperforms Expectations with Strong Growth in August 2025
Sweden's economy surprises with higher-than-expected GDP growth in August 2025, driven by increased household consumption and business output.
- • Sweden's GDP rose 1.1% from July in August 2025, surpassing expectations.
- • Calendar-adjusted GDP increased 2.4% year-on-year in August.
- • Household consumption grew 0.4% monthly and 2.5% yearly in fixed prices.
- • Economic recovery shows broad gains in consumption and business production.
Key details
Newly released data from Statistics Sweden (SCB) reveals that Sweden's economy is recovering more rapidly than anticipated in August 2025. The seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 1.1% compared to July, a rise economists did not foresee, as they had predicted stagnant GDP figures. On a yearly scale, calendar-adjusted GDP grew by a robust 2.4% compared to the same month last year.
Household consumption has also shown significant improvement following a downturn in early 2024. It rose by 0.4% from July and increased by 2.5% year-on-year in fixed prices. SCB economist Melker Pettersson Loberg emphasized that the economy experienced broad growth during August, with gains noted in both household consumption and business sector production. Statistician Johan Nyström commented on the consistent upward trend in household consumption, stating it has been rising steadily for more than a year after earlier declines.
These stronger-than-expected figures have led to reflections that the Riksbank might not have needed to lower interest rates had this data been available earlier. The unexpected economic resilience highlights positive momentum for Sweden’s economy moving forward.