National accounts, second quarter 2020
Historic GDP decline in the second quarter of 2020
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2020-08-28 9.30
GDP decreased by 8.3 percent in the second quarter of 2020, seasonally adjusted and compared with the first quarter of 2020. There was a broad downturn, but it was particularly affected by a drop in exports and households' consumption. The decline in GDP is the largest ever since the start of the time series in 1980. Calendar adjusted and compared with the second quarter of 2019, GDP decreased by 7.7 percent.
What is GDP?
Gross domestic product, GDP, is defined as the value of all goods and services produced in the country. GDP is used as a measure of economic growth and is published quarterly.
Summary of the second quarter
Percentages refer to seasonally adjusted volume changes compared with the previous quarter, unless otherwise stated. Tables available at the end of this statistical news also show volume changes in relation to the corresponding quarter the previous year.
- Household final consumption decreased by 7.7 percent. This decrease mainly came from lower household consumption of restaurant and hotel services, as well as lower household consumption abroad.
- General government consumption decreased by 2.4 percent. Central government consumption increased by 1.0 percent and consumption in local and regional government decreased by 3.5 percent.
- Changes in inventories contributed upwards to GDP growth by 0.1 percentage point.
- Gross fixed capital formation decreased by 4.5 percent. This downturn is mainly explained by reduced investments in machinery and equipment.
- Exports decreased by 18.2 percent and imports decreased by 12.9 percent. Overall, net exports contributed downwards to GDP growth by 3.3 percentage points.
- Market production decreased by 9.8 percent. Output in goods-producing industries decreased by 14.4 percent, while in service-producing industries, output decreased by 7.4 percent. Government production decreased by 4.2 percent.
- The total number of employed persons decreased by 1.4 percent, the number of hours worked decreased by 7.2 percent in the whole economy and by 9.8 percent in the business sector. Labour productivity in the business sector remained unchanged.
- Households’ real disposable income decreased by 7.8 percent compared with the second quarter 2019.
- Public administration recorded a deficit of SEK 55 billion for the second quarter 2020, SEK 110 billion less than in the corresponding quarter a year ago. This is the largest decrease in financial savings for a single quarter since the start of the time series in 1980.
| Current prices, SEK millions | Seasonally and calendar adjusted values | Non-adjusted values | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 q2 | Volume change, cf. with previous quarter,% | Contribution to GDP volume change, cf. with previous quarter,% points | Volume change, cf. with corresponding quarter last year,% | |
| GDP at market prices | 1 217 111 | ‑8.3 | ‑8.3 | ‑7.3 |
| Imports | 454 117 | ‑12.9 | 5.5 | ‑13.8 |
| Goods (SPIN A01–F43) | 307 180 | ‑11.9 | 3.4 | ‑12.9 |
| Services (SPIN G45–T98) | 146 937 | ‑15.0 | 2.1 | ‑15.7 |
| Total domestic supply | 1 671 228 | ‑9.7 | ‑9.2 | |
| Household consumption expenditure | 536 985 | ‑7.7 | ‑3.4 | ‑8.8 |
| Households excluding NPISH | 521 553 | ‑7.9 | ‑3.4 | ‑8.9 |
| NPISH [1] | 15 432 | ‑2.7 | 0.0 | ‑5.9 |
| Public consumption expenditure | 326 010 | ‑2.4 | ‑0.6 | ‑0.9 |
| Central government | 84 859 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 2.7 |
| Municipalities [2] | 241 151 | ‑3.5 | ‑0.7 | ‑2.2 |
| Gross fixed capital formation | 309 160 | ‑4.5 | ‑1.1 | ‑5.3 |
| Inventories [3] | 1 963 | 0.1 | ||
| Exports | 497 110 | ‑18.2 | ‑8.8 | ‑14.6 |
| Goods (SPIN A01–F43) | 351 362 | ‑19.0 | ‑6.5 | ‑14.3 |
| Services (SPIN G45–T98) | 145 748 | ‑16.3 | ‑2.3 | ‑15.2 |
| Total domestic demand | 1 671 228 | ‑9.7 | ‑9.2 | |
(1) Non-profit institutions serving households (2) Including regional governments (3) Including changes in valuables
| Seasonally and calendar adjusted values | Calendar adjusted values | |
|---|---|---|
| Volume change, cf. with previous quarter,% | Volume change, cf. with corresponding quarter last year,% | |
| GDP at market prices | ‑8.3 | ‑7.7 |
| Goods producers (SNI A01-F43) | ‑14.4 | ‑11.9 |
| Manufacturing (SNI C10-C33) | ‑24.0 | ‑21.5 |
| Service producers (SNI G45-T98) | ‑7.4 | ‑8.1 |
| Market production [1] | ‑9.8 | ‑9.4 |
| Government production | ‑4.2 | ‑3.7 |
| Hours worked [2] | ‑7.2 | ‑7.7 |
(1) Excluding tariffs and net product taxes (2) In the whole economy
Revisions
Non-adjusted GDP growth has been revised compared with the publication in May of the first quarter 2020. The fourth quarter 2019 has been revised upwards by 0.2 percentage points and GDP in the full year of 2019 has been revised upwards by 0.1 percentage point. The first quarter of 2020 has been revised upwards by 0.3 percentage points.
Publication
The current quarterly tables from 1980 onwards are available on the Statistics Sweden website, under National Accounts, quarterly and annual reports, and in the statistical databases.
Next publishing will be
The GDP indicator for the third quarter of 2020 will be published on 2020-11-05 at 9:30.
Complete quarterly national accounts for the third quarter of 2020 will be published on 2020-11-27 at 9:30.
Statistical Database
More information is available in the Statistical Database
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.