In 2019, Norwegians shopped for as much as SEK 27.9 billion in Sweden, the Swedish Trade Report shows.
In Värmland, Norwegians spent SEK 6.1 billion during the same period.
Threatens both finances and living conditions
When around 90 percent of that revenue disappears, it becomes a threat not only to cross-border trade but to the living conditions in the border municipalities as a whole.
- The financial worry is gigantic but what worries me most is how it affects people, that they lose their jobs, companies and can not meet friends, relatives and acquaintances on the other side of the border, says Stina Höök (M) who is chairman of Region Värmland's regional development committee.
Unemployment among young people
In total, cross-border trade along the Norwegian border generated 7,200 jobs in Sweden last year.
In Värmland, the cross-border trade is estimated to have employed 1,800 people and resulted in youth unemployment that was well below the national average in the border municipalities of Arvika, Eda and Årjäng.
But there, unemployment among young people has risen by several percentage points during the pandemic year as a result of the missed border trade.