Traffic over the border from Norway to Sweden is likely to increase after Swedish authorities decided to cut tax on food sold in grocery stores from 12- to 6 percent. That will further reduce the price of food in Sweden, where most items are already cheaper than in Norway.
Around 40 percent of Norway’s population lives within a 90-minute drive of border crossings into Sweden. State statistics bureau SSB (Statistics Norway) reports that Norwegians spent a record NOK 5.4 billion on food in Sweden just in the first half of last year. That was up 7 percent from the same period the year before.
The cross-border trade is likely to boom when prices fall in Sweden while they keep rising in Norway, where food also is taxed at 15 percent. The Swedish tax cut is due to take effect from April 1, but high-volume Swedish stores including Nordby Supermarket and MaxiMat Svinesund south of Oslo were compensating customers for half the current tax from March 25, in order to offer cheaper food during the upcoming Easter holiday week.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
