Sweden's economic confidence deteriorated for the seventh successive month in December to the lowest level in nearly two-and-a-half years, primarily due to the weak performance in the retail sector, survey results published by the National Institute of Economic Research showed on Thursday.
The economic tendency index dropped slightly to 84.7 in December from 85.1 in the previous month.
Further, this was the lowest score since July 2020, when it was 84.1.
Among sectors, the retail trade confidence indicator decreased the most, falling to 74.6 in December, as a result of fewer companies judging that their inventories are too small and that companies' expectations of future sales became somewhat gloomier.
The household confidence indicator stood at 54.1 in December, down from 57.4 in November.
The manufacturing confidence indicator lost only 0.4 points from November to 104.1 in December. Meanwhile, the service sector indicator climbed by 1.6 points to 87.1 in December.
However, the situation in the input and consumer goods industry is gloomier than normal, the survey said.
