Unemployment will rise in 2024. Households lose thousands of Swedish kroner in purchasing power every month due to the price increases, bankruptcies are hitting records and more and more people are being visited by the Crown Bailiff.
But apart from the war industry, there is one more company that makes a profit. The company with a capital B.
Nyheter24 has already reported on Systembolaget’s mega profits for 2023.
Doubled profit
The 551 million kroner in surplus is a doubling compared to the year before, and net sales increased by a full billion.
The Swedish people’s alcohol consumption has changed during the year.
The Swedes visit more often
“Customers visited us more often, but bought fewer and cheaper goods,” writes Ann Carlsson Meyer, CEO of the company, in a press release.
In connection with the Christmas and New Year weeks, customer visits were more than three percent more than last year, writes Systembolaget.
But it is not unproblematic, mean Richard Henriksson who is The Public Health Agency’s analyst on alcohol policy.
– For many years there has been a positive relationship between alcohol consumption in the population and mortality from alcohol-related causes, internationally and in Sweden. The connection with Systembolaget’s sales has been valid for as long as the company has existed (1955-), he says to News24.
Addiction is increasing among the unemployed
The economic crisis can absolutely be a factor, he believes:
– Internationally, the economic crisis in society seems to lead to a decrease in alcohol consumption in the population, but that so-called risky consumption, i.e. consumption that entails an increased risk of injury, is increasing in certain vulnerable groups, e.g. those who have become unemployed. It is possible that these connections also apply in Sweden, but the number of studies is small.
Read more about Swedish economy:
Systembolaget introduces self-scanning: Here are the stores that are first
The trick on Systembolaget’s website you must have missed
Blowed the Systembolaget staff – defrauded themselves of SEK 3,000