A larger boycott campaign has been launched on social media in Sweden. Tens of thousands have joined from TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. It's about boycotting the larger food retailers as a reaction to the constantly rising food prices. Between January 2022 and January 2024, food prices in Sweden increased by 22%. At the same time, high interest rates negatively affected household economies.
Read more: Possible Impact For the Stores
Many families had significantly less money left in their wallets and were forced to reduce their consumption. This dampened inflation, and by 2024, the inflation targets were reached, and interest rates could be lowered again. Now, prices have started to rise again. Food prices have increased by 3.9% from February 2024 to February 2025 [1].
This has led the Swedish population to mobilize. Now, more and more people are joining in. On March 17th, a boycott of the larger Swedish food retailers will begin, in the hope that it will have an impact on the pricing of large corporations.
The boycott has also received support from leading politicians like Nooshi Dadgostar, the leader of the Left Party. She will personally participate in the boycott by stopping her shopping at ICA, one of Sweden's largest food retailers. However, Sweden's Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, will not participate. He says:
As Prime Minister, I do not boycott Swedish companies
It remains to be seen how many will join the boycott and if it can have the desired effect on food prices in Sweden.
