Statistics Sweden has instructed every household in the country to book a package holiday before the end of the month, after package tour prices fell sharply and pulled the October inflation figure lower than economists had expected.
The agency said the measure was necessary to keep the consumer price index on the course set by the Riksbank. Officials at the bureau have drawn up a schedule assigning each municipality a destination, with Gotland receiving the Canary Islands and Norrland a fortnight in Turkey. Hotel chains in southern Europe have been asked to add two additional floors to accommodate the expected demand, and charter airlines have been ordered to operate round the clock.
Economists at a Stockholm bank described the instruction as unprecedented but mathematically sound. "A package tour is a package tour whether or not anyone goes on it," said one senior analyst, who confirmed that the index counts the advertised price rather than the trip itself. Municipal councils have begun collecting suitcases in town halls, and the Riksbank has scheduled an emergency briefing on whether the next interest rate decision should take the holidays into account.
By next week, the agency expects that every citizen will have returned home tanned, and that the figures for November will show a further decline. Officials said they would review the policy in the spring, when the first families are due back from Majorca.