Trade Ties Make Sweden’s EU Departure Unthinkable

(Bloomberg) --

The U.K.’s departure from the European Union may prove tough for Sweden: The free-trade loving, non-federalist Nordic country has been a close ally of Britain in the EU and it will now be more isolated. Yet Swexit is unthinkable for now -- Sweden has much more to lose than Britain. Bloomberg Economics’ gravity model of international trade suggests that Sweden’s total trade in goods is more than 20% higher than it would have had the country not joined the EU in 1995 -- that’s roughly double BE’s estimate of the benefit to the U.K. as a result of its membership of the single market.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.