A Consumer Price Index for Sweden 1290-2006

By Rodney Edvinsson and Johan Söderberg

 

This section contains historical price series for Sweden. A Consumer Price Index (CPI) is presented for the whole period 1290-2006. The index makes it possible to estimate the inflation rate during various periods and to compare the price level in one year with the price level in an earlier year. The index is linked up with the present Consumer Price Index published by Statistics Sweden.

Diagram Consumer Price Index


For the construction of a consumer price index the general rule should be to follow the currency that were most frequently used in retail trade, or at least transactions when smaller amounts of consumer products were bought. The following currencies are followed for different periods:

  • Mark for the period 1290-1624
  • Daler kopparmynt for the period 1624-1776
  • Specie riksdaler for the period 1776-1789
  • Riksdaler riksgälds for the period 1789-1855
  • Riksdaler riksmynt for the period 1855-1873
  • Krona for the period 1873 onwards.

     

These currencies are the basis for the construction of CPI 1. However, a CPI 2 is also constructed to take into consideration times of very high inflation, when inflation money was circulated, which later were replaced by a more stable currency. This occurred in four periods: 1521-1524, 1561-1576, 1590-1593 and 1715-1719. At the end of these inflation periods, the inflation coins could be exchanged for the new coins, but at a much lower rate than was nominally assigned to the inflation coins. CPI 2 takes into account that the inflation coins were devalued by 1/3 in 1524, by 11/13 in 1576, by 75 percent in1593 and by 50 percent in 1719, while CPI 1 does not. When prices were expressed in proper coins, they have been transformed to prices in inflation coins by using the exchange rate between the inflation coins and proper coins.

 

List of variables and their definitions:

Name 
Period Time frame

Explenation

Consumer Price Index 1 1290-2006 Annual July 1914 = 100. Without changes made to index due to inflation coins being devalued
Consumer Price Index 2 1290-2006 Annual July 1914 = 100. Takes into the account that the inflation coins were devalued by 1/3 in 1524, by 11/13 in 1576, by 75 percent in1593 and by 50 percent in 1719.

 

 

DOCUMENTATION
 
Consumer Price Index 1291-2006 | Excel icon 77 Kb
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A Consumer Prise Index 1290-2006


LAST REVIEWED
2/29/2008