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Beyoncé is being blamed for higher-than-projected costs in Sweden following her stop on the Renaissance World Tour.
As the singer embarked on her world tour last month, the demand for hotels and restaurant meals skyrocketed in Sweden, prompting inflation to be higher than expected, per BBC. The country reported inflation of 9.7 percent in May after economists projected the stat would land at around 9.4 percent.
Michael Grahn, an economist at Danske Bank, said Bey is likely behind the jump in hotel rates and an unexpected uptick in recreation and culture prices.
"I wouldn't ... blame Beyoncé for [the] high inflation print, but her performance and global demand to see her perform in Sweden apparently added a little to it," Grahn told BBC.
However, there should be no surprise that the Grammy award-winning artist's first solo tour in seven years may be causing a shift in the economy.
According to Airbnb, searches soared for accommodations in cities on stops of the tour. Tickets for many concerts sold out quickly and prices sharply increased on the resale market, causing some fans to venture out of their home country to attend the highly sought-after performance.
60,000 people flocked to Cardiff to catch Bey in the UK. The Stockholm concerts boasted crowds of nearly 50,000 for two nights.
Visit Stockholm previously described the boom in tourism as the "Beyoncé effect."
Grahn said it's "very rare" for one star to have such an impact on the economy. The economist expects trends to return to normal in Sweden in June.
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