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Swedes now spend more on fun than on food: study

Swedes spend more money on their recreation than they do on food, according to a new study.

The survey, conducted by Statistics Sweden, revealed that Swedes spend considerably more money on culture and recreational activities than they do on groceries.

In one year, the average Swede spends around 54,000 kronor ($7,700) on cultural and recreational activities, and only 36,800 kronor on food.

The data demonstrates an ongoing trend which has seen food spending eat up an ever smaller portion of families’ disposable incomes.

Fifty years ago, grocery bills accounted for at least 30 percent of the average household budget.

Today, the number has dwindled to a lowly 13 percent.

Interestingly enough, Swedish spending on tobacco products and alcohol has also decreased during the past thirty years.

Swedes now spend around 1,700 kronor less per year on both.

The study also showed that Swedish households are spending more overall.

Over the last three decades, Swedish household spending has increased by 35 percent.

In 1978, yearly household costs averaged just 216,000 kronor per year, compared with a total for 2008 of 291,000 kronor.

The study made no mention of corresponding changes in families’ income levels.

Additional changes in spending habits can be seen in the table below:

How Swedes’ spending has changed since 1978

Item 1978 spending (kronor) 2008 spending (kronor)
Household items: 43,900 71,600
Groceries: 40,100 36,800
Eating out: 6,800 10,500
Alcohol: 4,400 3,900
Tobacco: 3,400 2,200
Disposable goods: 5,400 5,900
Household services: 8,500 10,300
Clothes and shoes: 17,400 14,900
Furniture: 18,900 17,300
Healthcare: 3,000 6,600
Transportation: 32,800 50,300
Culture and recreation: 30,900 54,900
Total annual spending: 215,500 290,900

Source: Statistics Sweden

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Danish stores to remove MobilePay from payment options

Over 500 shops in Denmark will no longer offer the popular app MobilePay as a payment option after the platform ordered merchants to purchase new hardware.

Danish stores to remove MobilePay from payment options

The Dagrofa corporation, which owns chains including the Meny and Spar supermarkets, has announced it will remove MobilePay as a payment option in its stores, business media Finans reports.

The decision could impact less than 1 percent of payments in the store which are currently made using MobilePay, the company said.

READ ALSO: 17 essential phone apps to make your life in Denmark easier

“The primary reason is that MobilePay will from now on demand a technical setup for the payment system in stores and with the investment that will neee, we have concluded that’s not the way we want to go,” Dagrofa’s head of communications Morten Vestberg told Finans.

Dagrofa owns the Let-Køb and Min Købmand convenience store chains in addition to Meny and Spar.

The decision will mean MobilePay is removed from some 530 stores altogether, although individual stores may choose to retain the payment app.

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