STOCKHOLM (dpa-AFX) - Sweden's economy shrank for the first time in three months in May, weighed down by lower output in service-producing industries and general government, data from Statistics Sweden showed on Thursday.
Separate official data showed that industrial production increased for the second straight month.
Gross domestic product dropped 0.2 percent month-on-month in May, reversing a 0.2 percent rise in the prior month.
'Seen from the use side of the economy, the downturn was explained, among other factors, by lower figures for household consumption and a weakening of net exports concerning goods,' Mattias Kain Wyatt, an economist at Statistics Sweden, said.
On a yearly basis, GDP advanced 0.5 percent in May, though slower than the 0.9 percent growth in April.
Data showed that household consumption decreased by 1.2 percent monthly, while it grew 0.6 percent annually in May.
Industrial production advanced 5.0 percent annually in May, following a 5.3 percent recovery in the prior month.
Among manufacturing industries, the industry for fabricated metal products logged an annual growth of 1.1 percent, while that for paper and paper products fell by 2.3 percent.
Construction output rose at a slower pace of 0.3 percent annually in May, after a 1.0 percent increase a month ago.
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