Beyoncé, widely recognized as the Queen of Pop music, has been implicated as the cause behind an unanticipated surge in inflation that supposedly occurred in Sweden during the month of May 2023.
According to experts and economists in Sweden, the superstar’s world tour in Sweden sky-rocketed the price of goods and services, especially the cost of hotels and restaurant services.
Sweden reported higher-than-expected inflation of 9.7% in May. Inflation in the hospitality industry increased the most.
Touching on the new development, Michael Grahn, a Swedish economist at Danske Bank said that Beyoncé helped drive the jump in hotel rates, she equally is a significant influence behind the unexpectedly strong uptick in recreation and culture prices, he said.
“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,” he wrote in an email to the BBC.
The demand for hotel and restaurant services due to Beyoncé world tour is not exclusive to Sweden, in the UK, reports from the Cardiff Hotel reveal that over 60,000 people including foreign nationals from countries such as Lebanon, USA, and Australia have made demands for rooms tied to the singer’s concert in London. This unexpected situation has compelled local authorities to drive out some homeless families being housed in a hotel by the local council was reportedly booted to make way for her fans.
Beyoncé world tour, the first in seven years is expected to gross over £2bn by the time it ends in September.