STOCKHOLM—Sweden's economic growth during the second quarter of 2010 was even stronger than expected, and the country's Gross National Product is up 4.6 percent compared to the same period last year, Statistics Sweden revealed in a press statement on Wednesday. This is only one of several indications that Sweden has made it through the economic crisis stronger than most countries in not only Europe, but the whole world.
Exports are strong, industry production rates are increasing, many companies are hiring again, and households are spending more money on cars and home electronics. Many experts are surprised at the quick and strong recovery, but the rate is expected to slow down somewhat next year.
On Thursday, the World Economic Forum's yearly ranking of the most competitive economies in the world was published. It is based on public data and large-scale surveys among 13,500 company executives. Sweden climbed from fourth to second place, and is only behind Switzerland in the ranking.
These figures are considered good news for the current Conservative-Liberal government in the upcoming election, since data now backs their claim that they did a good job steering the country through the crisis, which nearly brought down the Swedish automobile industry.
