Sweden's GDP rises 2.1% in third quarter

Sweden's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 2.1 percent in the third quarter of 2014 compared to the same quarter last year, Statistics Sweden reported Friday.
Compared to the second quarter of 2014, GDP rose by 0.3 percent.
Analysts with Sweden's Central Bank had predicted a 2.3 percent growth compared to last year and a 0.2 percent increase on the previous quarter.
Household consumption expenditure -- up by 2.4 percent on the same quarter last year -- is driving growth, contributing 1.2 percentage points to the GDP increase.
Meanwhile, government consumption expenditure rose by 2.3 percent, contributing 0.6 percentage point to GDP growth.
Exports increased by 2.6 percent, while production in the business sector rose 2.1 percent. Service-producing industries increased their production by 3.2 percent.
"GDP was very much in line with Central Bank predictions, offering no real surprises," Annika Winsth, chief economist with financial services group Nordea, told Swedish national daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet.
"We have weak exports and mediocre investment, except for in the construction area. Consumption is the driving force, hence it is crucial that we follow it," she added.