Midsummer plate cheaper this year after VAT reduction on food

The major bank SEB's review shows a 4.4 percent decline in what it calls the "midsummer index" and covers product groups such as potatoes, eggs and pickled salmon.

The largest price drop is for potatoes, down 21 percent, linked to factors in addition to the VAT reduction, SEB notes:

"Among international trends, for example, we can see that good harvests last year are now driving down the price of items such as potatoes and grain-related products, including crispbread, as well as dairy products," says Marcus Widén, macroeconomist at SEB, in a press release.

However, there are a few exceptions where prices have risen; for example, the price of fresh berries has increased by 6.5 percent.