A robust start to 2018

The official data suggest that the Nordic & Swiss economies recorded fairly mixed performances at the end of last year. So far, only Norway has published national accounts data for Q4. This release revealed a healthy quarterly growth rate for the mainland economy of 0.6%, only a touch slower than in Q3. Elsewhere, the monthly data were consistent with an acceleration in quarterly GDP growth in Sweden to as high as 1.5%. The official data were less positive for Denmark and Finland, suggesting that growth slowed in both countries. In Switzerland, retail sales appear to have increased in Q4 for the first time in three quarters, supporting the message from the surveys that GDP growth accelerated.