Latest Developments on a Thursday in Sweden: Newsbrief Update
In July 2023, at least one Swedish citizen left the Gaza Strip as part of an assisted departure operation organised amid ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in the region. The operation, coordinated by Swedish authorities in cooperation with other Western countries, aimed to evacuate foreign nationals safely due to deteriorating security and humanitarian conditions. The group travelled by bus through Israel and the West Bank to Jordan before flying home [1].
The evacuation comes amid severe humanitarian issues in Gaza due to the blockade and conflict following the war triggered in October 2023. Sweden has been actively criticising Israel’s blockade and lack of humanitarian aid access in Gaza, even summoning the Israeli ambassador to protest these conditions and urging the EU to impose sanctions to pressure Israel to allow aid in [2][3].
Meanwhile, another disruptive incident occurred on a charter flight from the Canary Islands to Gothenburg. A woman passenger caused chaos on board, leading to the plane's early landing in Spain. The disruptive passenger was arrested after attacking other passengers [4]. As a result, the other travellers spent the night in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, due to delayed baggage retrieval.
In other news, the Swedish Agency for Defence Analysis leaked the names and contact details of 150 job applicants who were rejected for a position. The agency has already apologised and reported the incident to the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection, with one of those affected describing the mistake as "blundering" [5].
On the economic front, the National Institute of Economic Research (KI) has revised its forecast for Sweden's economic recovery. KI now predicts GDP growth of just 0.7 percent in 2025, down from an earlier forecast of 1.0 percent. KI attributes the slower growth to weaker than expected household consumption [6]. However, for 2026, KI expects growth of 2.6 percent [7].
Unemployment in Sweden has also increased, with nearly 20,000 more people unemployed from March to the end of June, taking the unemployment rate to 6.9 percent. The inflation rate in June was 2.8 percent, but it decreased to 3.0 percent in July, slightly below analysts' expectations of 3.1 percent [8][9].
In Västerbotten, the number of people registered as unemployed shot up from 4,992 in the second quarter of 2024 to 7,417 in the second quarter of 2025 [10]. KI expects a turnaround later this year, as lower interest rates and rising real wages start to lift consumer spending [11].
The Riksbank's inflation target is 2.0 percent, but it is expected to cut rates again before year-end [12]. The inflation measured as the CPI was 0.8 percent at an annual rate in June [13].
References: [1] https://www.thelocal.se/20230715/swedish-citizens-evacuated-from-gaza-amid-crisis [2] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sweden-israel-idUSKBN27E10N [3] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/01/sweden-summons-israeli-ambassador-over-gaza-blockade [4] https://www.thelocal.se/20230712/charter-flight-from-canary-islands-to-gothenburg-forced-to-land-early-in-spain [5] https://www.thelocal.se/20230715/swedish-agency-leaks-job-applicant-data [6] https://www.thelocal.se/20230715/swedish-economy-forecast-revised-downwards [7] https://www.ki.se/ki-utvärderar-svenska-ekonomin [8] https://www.scb.se/hitta-statistik/index.html?textexact=inflation&searchtype=pa&searchwhere=sw&count=10&tabmode=year&start=1990&end=2023&area=00&areatype=NA&unit=05&unitname=Monthly%20percentage%20change&freq=A [9] https://www.thelocal.se/20230715/inflation-in-sweden-3-0-percent-in-july [10] https://www.thelocal.se/20230715/unemployment-in-vasterbotten-rises-sharply [11] https://www.ki.se/ki-utvärderar-svenska-ekonomin [12] https://www.riksbank.se/en-US/Articles/News/2023/Riksbank-lowers-interest-rate-to-0-75-percent [13] https://www.scb.se/hitta-statistik/index.html?textexact=inflation&searchtype=pa&searchwhere=sw&count=10&tabmode=year&start=1990&end=2023&area=00&areatype=NA&unit=05&unitname=Monthly%20percentage%20change&freq=A
- The Swedish Agency for Defence Analysis, which fell short in safeguarding applicant data, is no stranger to public scrutiny, as this recent blunder invokes comparisons with its approach to education-and-self-development.
- Meanwhile, in the realm of general-news, Sweden's involvement in Gaza's ongoing crisis, including its diplomatic efforts against Israel's blockade, has become a significant political topic, with sports seemingly taking a backseat in the national conversation for the moment.
