OSLO (Reuters) - The Swedish economy will slow this year, as weaker domestic demand and a cooling off in Europe push growth down to a six-year low, a Reuters poll predicted on Friday.
Home to major exporters and such global brands as Ericsson (BS:ERICAs), H&M, Volvo AB and Atlas Copco, Sweden depends on demand from abroad.
Slower public spending and a drop in demand for new homes are among domestic factors expected to restrain the economy, although growth in the final quarter of 2018 was significantly higher than economists had anticipated.
Norway and Denmark, both of which have lagged their Scandinavian neighbor in recent years, will grow at a faster pace than Sweden in 2019, the poll also suggested.
The Swedish economy is expected to slow to 1.6 percent growth in 2019, down from 2.3 percent last year, and below a prediction of 1.9 percent in a Reuters poll in January. That would be the slowest expansion since 2013's 1.2 percent.