Sweden's economy shrinks in the third quarter to signal that a recession may have hit the country

Sweden’s economy shrank in the third quarter of 2023 to mark the second time of contraction and signal that a recession may have hit the country. Data released Wednesday by Statistics Sweden showed that the country's gross domestic product declined by 0.3% in the period ending in October. Jessica Engdahl of the statistical agency said that “the downturn in the economy was broad but was held back somewhat by strong service exports.” Two consecutive quarters of contraction is a common definition of recession. But economists on the eurozone business cycle dating committee use a broader set of data including employment figures.