Sweden blames inflation on Beyonce after the singer’s visit to Stockholm

Economists in Sweden believe that the singer’s decision to start her world tour in Stockholm in May led to a surge in local hotel and restaurant prices.

Prices rose by 9.7 percent in May year-on-year, down from 10.5 percent in April, the first time inflation came in under 10 percent in over six months.

‘Continued decrease in electricity and food prices contributed to the lower inflation rate in May,’ Mikael Nordin, statistician at Statistics Sweden, said in a statement.

At the same time, costs of certain goods and services rose, ‘for instance hotel and restaurant visits, recreational services, and clothing,’ the agency said.

According to Michael Grahn, chief economist for Sweden at Danske Bank, a visit by Beyonce to Stockholm could explain the unexpected rise.

‘Beyonce’s start of her world tour in Sweden seems to have coloured May inflation, how much is uncertain,’ Grahn said in a post to social media.

Grahn added that her much-hyped concert in May ‘probably’ accounted for 0.2 of the 0.3 percentage points added to inflation by hotels and restaurant prices.

“I wouldn’t … blame Beyonce for [the] high inflation print, but her performance and global demand to see her perform in Sweden apparently added a little to it,” he wrote in an email to the BBC.

Searches for accommodation in cities on the tour shot up after it was announced, Airbnb reported. Tickets for many concerts sold out within days and prices soared on the resale market.

Tens of thousands of fans flocked to Stockholm in the middle of May to catch the two concerts that kicked off her first solo tour in seven years.

Inflation peaked in December at 12.3 per cent – a more than 30-year high – then slowed slightly in January to 11.7 per cent, but unexpectedly spiked back to 12 percent in February.

Beyoncé  is touring for the first time in seven years, sparking huge demand for tickets in Europe and from next month the US.