How are the Nordics doing it?

[airiefairie]

Nearly a year after the coronavirus pandemic broke out, the Swedish government has decided to take tougher measures to fight the infection. It last week that the country's parliament passed a law providing, among other things, for the temporary closure of shops and malls. In the meantime, the Swedish economy has coped much better with the pandemic than most other European economies. According to EC experts, the Swedish GDP has contracted by only by 3.4% last year. And experts from Stockholm estimate even less than 3%. In the EU, only Lithuania and Ireland are doing better. And the forecast for Germany is a 5.6% contraction.

The Danish economy has suffered less than many others in Europe as well. According to the EC, the decline for Denmark will be about 4%. But during the pandemic, Norway, which is not a member of the EU, did best among the Scandinavian countries - in 2020, its GDP fell by only 2%. In March and April, the Norwegian GDP plummeted, but in the third quarter of last year, they even registered some growth by 4.6%.

This stability has also affected the capital markets. However, the Scandinavian countries have no clear recipe for this success that they could convey to others.

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