Christmas shopping 2013

This year's Christmas shopping in Sweden just might break the record... Merchants are hoping for sure. 

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  Christmas shopping in Sweden—will there be a record this year? According to HUI Research prognosis, this year’s Christmas shopping will increase and reach a new record of 66 billion ($10 billion).

• Will this year’s Christmas shopping break the record? There are indications that it might: The Swedish krona is strong, it will likely be a white Christmas this year, few people will get laid off and the interest rates are low. According to HUI Research prognosis, this year’s Christmas shopping will increase 1.5 percent over last year and thereby reach a new record of 66 billion ($10 billion).

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  All of Stockholm fills up with small shopping areas where eager city dwellers pick up little gifts, decorations and special food items - here at the Stortorget, 'The Large Square' behind Stockholm's castle in the Old town.

• However, in the past the Swedish customer has not lived up to HUI’s prognoses, and only in 2009 did the Christmas shopping actually surpass the prediction. This year there are also some concerns: The weather and the fact that Christmas Eve falls on a Tuesday may make shopping inconvenient.

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  A section of Drottninggatan in Stockholm city just prior to Christmas. Photo: Henrik Trygg

• Lena Larsson, managing director at HUI, is still satisfied with the prognosis: ”Many families choose to travel abroad over Christmas, and that affects the retail business,” she says. Also some stores and brands are very dependent on the weather. The snow that fell last Christmas was like pennies from heaven for the sporting goods business, which increased its December sales by 21.3 percent compared to 2011, while retail sales as a whole declined by 0.6 percent.