Sweden’s economy is falling at the same rate as Europe, although business has remained open.

Sweden has refused to introduce draconian containment measures like the rest of Europe, fearing that its economy will fall to its knees. The business remained open and distancing measures were kept to a minimum. In March, the Swedish economy performed better than the rest of Europe, with a decrease of just 0.3%, compared to a 3.8% decrease in the European area.

However, the Financial Times writes that Sweden cannot escape the severe recession that will soon affect Europe. The European Commission forecast is for a 6.1% drop in Swedish GDP this year, while the Riksbank has an even darker view: a drop of between 7 and 10% of GDP and an unemployment rate of between 9 and 10.4%. These are catastrophic figures for the Scandinavian country.

An important reason for the economic downturn is that Sweden is a small country with a large manufacturing industry. Car and truck maker Volvo had to stop production due to supply difficulties in other countries.