The hamburger Big Mac costs in Sweden 71 kronor, in the USA 6 dollars. This would give an exchange rate of 11.80 kronor, according to the magazine Economist's long-standing so-called Big Mac index, which is based on the fact that the cost of the same burger in different countries would reflect an exchange rate.
But the current exchange rate was in July, when the magazine last updated the index, at 9.70 kronor per dollar. Thus, the krona is overvalued, by as much as 22 percent, according to the simplified method of calculation.
For a Swede, it is therefore cheaper to travel to the USA, exchange some dollars and buy a Big Mac than to buy the equivalent burger at home.
The same applies to the euro. Then the krona is nearly 6 percent overvalued.
The dollar's weakening over the past six months has meant that the US currency is undervalued against most Western currencies, according to the burger index. The most overvalued is the Swiss franc. There, the hamburger is clearly the most expensive in relation to the actual exchange rate.
