Private Consumption in Sweden and Finland Before, During and After the Global Financial Crisis

摘要

Abstract. This study describes private consumption in Sweden and Finland before, during and after the Global Financial crisis. During eleven years, from 2004 to 2013, we investigate how the total household consumption expenditures have developed and how households have allocated their consumption budgets on various consumption categories in the two Nordic countries. The research design is of descriptive character and the data is derived from Statistics Finland and Statistics Sweden. The key findings of the study are: (1) The private consumption continued to grow in both countries, with the exception in Finlandin 2009. (2) Both the actual decrease in consumption and the reallocation of commodities indicate that Finnish households have suffered more from the Global Financial Crisis compared to Swedish ones.Keywords. Private consumption, household expenditures, financial crisis, Finland, Sweden.JEL. D12, G01, O57.