Swedish News:

The most expensive apartment. The last 'telefonkiosk' More breastfed babies.  

  • Remember these? Sweden's "telefonkiosker" are soon meeting their maker; in 2015, Telia will remove the remaining booths (around 1,200). Photo: Holger.Ellgaard

  • The most expensive apartment in Sweden
    Think Sweden's most expensive apartment is a large penthouse overlooking the water? Think again. Sweden's most expensive apartment is a small one-bedroom affair, featuring nothing fancier than a cooking plate. Yesterday the apartment (which measures 10 square meters or 107 square feet) made a new record in square meter price. Newly renovated and located on Surbrunnsgatan 46 in the Vasastan area of Stockholm, the apartment was sold for 1,625,000 SEK ($252,000), which means 162,500 SEK ($25,000) per square meter. Looking at the sale statistics from the past three years, this is not unique. Three of the ten most expensive apartments in Stockholm, in terms of price per square meter, are the one-bedroom apartments.

  • An older telephone booth, such as this one in Skänninge, might be something you'd feel nostalgic about. If so, you can buy one. Photo: Thuresson

  • The last 'telefonkiosk'
    Say good bye to the last phone booths. In 2015, whenever Superman visits Sweden, he'll have to find some other place to change into his suit as Telia will dismantle the last of the ”telefonkiosker.” Thirty years ago there were as many as 40,000 of them around the country. Today, if you tell someone under age 20 that in the old days people would line up in order to stand on a box and speak into a phone in a booth, you’re likely to be met with confusion. The first Swedish phone booth was put up in Stockholm in 1890, and the number increased steadily until the early 1980s. There was not a railway station, town square or mall that lacked a telephone booth. For a long time you needed coins to make a call, but later there were phone cards, and lately Telia has tried to keep the phone booths alive by turning them into places where you could surf the net. But the fact remains: Since the arrival of cell phones, phone booths no longer fill a need. So it will soon be time to say good-bye to the 1,200 booths left in Sweden. However, if you feel nostalgic, it is possible to buy one: Telia reports that the price varies from 1,500 to 3,000 SEK ($230-$470) depending on model and what shape the booth is in. All of the available phone booths were sold in a matter of hours after the announcement.

  • More Swedish moms choose to exclusively breastfeed their babies.

  • More breastfed babies
    The number of Swedish babies who are still breastfed exclusively at 6 months old has increased. On an average, 96 percent are solely or partially breastfed at one week, and 87 percent at two months. In 2010 only 11 percent of Swedish moms breastfed their babies exclusively, while in 2011, the number had increased to 14 percent.

  • You're looking at the ad for Sweden's most expensive apartment, which was sold just days ago to the tune of 1,625,000 SEK ($252,000), which means 162,500 SEK ($25,000) per square meter. Photo courtesy of hemnet.se