The decline in the first quarter of this year was unexpectedly large. Analysts had, on average, expected growth to slow to -0.1 percent in the first quarter, according to Bloomberg.
Nordea says in a comment that the figure will not "shake the Swedish Central Bank" and expects the Swedish Central Bank to leave the policy rate unchanged at its next interest-rate announcement in mid-June.
Retail sales in April were flat compared with March but rose 4.7 percent at an annual rate, according to a separate report from Statistics Sweden.
Nordea notes in an analysis that food sales rose sharply in April in connection with the reduction in food VAT.
