Sweden’s May inflation rate was higher than what experts initially estimated—and a chief economist points to Beyoncé as a possible primarycause.
Beyoncé is one of the world’s most successful musical talents; her sold-out albums and shows, as well as her impressive number of Grammys, are a testament to this. After all, her fans—collectively referred to as the “BeyHive” —don’t call her “Queen Bey” for nothing.
Now, the critically-acclaimed performer has added a new and rather unexpected accomplishment to her record-breaking portfolio: raising the inflation rate of an entire country.
READ ALSO: The Queen’s Renaissance: Out Of This World Looks That Beyoncé Wore For Her World Tour
Michael Grahn, a chief economist for Denmark’s Danske Bank, cites Beyoncé as the cause of Sweden’s high inflation rate for May. While the country was already experiencing rising prices since 2022, the American singer’s recent concerts in Stockholm may have been the reason why inflation hasn’t decreased to the estimated percentage forecasted by economists.
Okay Ladies, Now Let’s Get In—flation
Sweden’s inflation rose to an all-time high of 12.3% in December, before dropping to 11.7% in January, then rising once more to 12% in February. It then dropped to 10.5% by April, with a further decrease to 9.7% in May. Still, last month’s percentage was higher than the 9.4% that financial experts expected.
Beyoncé held concerts from May 10 to 11 in Stockholm’s National Arena as part of her Renaissance world tour. An estimated 46,000 fans gathered to witness Queen Bey’s performances—with many concert-goers actually hailing from the United States due to lower ticket prices in Europe.
As such, most fans booked stays at hotels and visited nearby restaurants. Grahn notes that due to the limited number of accommodations, these establishments had to raise their prices, leading to higher inflation. In fact, even hotels that were 50 kilometers away from Stockholm had to increase their rates.
“I wouldn’t … blame Beyoncé for [the] high inflation print, but her performance and global demand to see her perform in Sweden apparently added a little to it,” Grahn wrote in an email to the BBC.
“Perhaps all that isn’t just down to her, as there are other events taking place, but when you think about what was the cause, she’s the prime suspect,” he shared with NBC News. “It’s not just out of the blue, we did hear a month ago that it was very hard for her fans to get accommodation and that hotel rates went up. It seems to be a reasonable guess.”
In an email to the Washington Post, Visit Stockholm had described this series of occurrences as the “Beyoncé effect.”
No One Does It Like Queen Bey
Some experts say that inflation rates could rise again when Bruce Springsteen holds three concerts in Gothenburg this June. However, Grahn told the Wall Street Journal that the “Beyoncé effect” is considered a “very rare” occurrence.
“Stars come here all the time, [but] we seldom see effects like this,” Grahn elaborated in an interview with CNN. “What we saw with Beyoncé was a little bit special.” Experts estimate that the singer’s Renaissance tour will have grossed over $2 billion when it ends this coming September. All this goes to show that Queen Bey does, indeed, run the world.
Banner photo via Instagram @beyonce.
