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156

(1904) Author: Gustav Sundbärg
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156

II. TH B SWEDISH PEOPLE.

especially of iate years, and, on -the whole, our population must now be one of
those most addicted to coffee-drinking, (in North Sweden, this use is often carried
to excess, especially on the part of the women). Tea, on the other hand, is still
confined to the wealthier classes. The consumption of sugar has increased
enormously, in consequence of the falling price and the rise of a native sugar
production: sugar has, on the whole, always played a very great part in Swedish
households.

The consumption of meat is calculated by P. Fahlbeck as being, for the years
1885/88, about 28 kg. per head, yearly, which is about the same as the European
average. This consumption has doubtlessly increased of låte years, although no
figures on the subject are at hand. On the other hand, the consumption of
milk — calculated by G. Liljeholm as being, for the year 1885, 183 litres
per head (certainly an unusually high figure) — is nowadays less than before,
as an ever increasing quantity of milk is used in butter-making. The annual
consumption of butter in Sweden is, according to P. Fahlbeck’s calculation, 5"54
kg. per inh. — a very high figure on the whole, when compared with those for
the greater number of other countries.

The use of intoxicating liquors had, during the first part of the nineteenth
century, reached a height which attracted an attention unfavourable to our people.
A detailed account of these circumstances, and of the energetic temperance work of
the last decades, is given by the section »The Temperance Movement» in the pages
following. Here we shall only point out, with reference to Table 29, that
the position of Sweden is, nowadays, by no means a specially unfavourable one
in this respect, but that the consumption of spirits in our country, even if it
still be greater than in Norway and Finland, yet falls below that for Denmark
and the average for Europe. — A so-called »national Swedish drink» is "punch,
which, however, is only drunk by the better-off classes; people abroad often
form a very exaggerated picture of its use, and of its importance in Swedish
social life.

table 30. Yearly consumption per inhabitant, in Sweden.1

Average for the years Wheat. Kilogr. Rye. Kilogr. [-Potatoes.-] {+Pota- toes.+} Kilogr. Coffee. Hg. Tea. Hg. Sugar. Kilogr. [-Tobacco.-] {+To- bacco.+} Hg. Spirits. Liter. > Beer. Liter. Wine. Liter.
1861/70........ 17 109 202 173 008 4-87 713 9-76 ll-o 0-42
1871/80........ 23 123 242 23-8 Oil 7’63 9-76 10-96 16-8 0-76
1881/90....... 35 132 235 304 018 1067 9-72 7-60 21-8 0-61
1891/95........ 51 124 242 346 0’81 1608 10-58 6-67 276 0-62
1896/00........ 52 125 223 481 0-38 1848 11-27 804 33-4 0-68

On the whole, it can be said that the consumption of the more substantial
victuals (with the exception of milk) has very greatly increased among our people,
a fact which undoubtedly bears witness to a rising economical prosperity. The
consumption of spirits is, on the contrary, decreasing, and the use of tobacco
is, from a European point of view, only moderately spread — but with a
dis-proportionally large share for snuff. The noticeable raising of the »standard of
living», to which most of the figures concerning food-consumption bear witness,
has certainly contributed in a high degree to the notorious progress in point of
physical development, and the great decrease in the death-rate, a fuller account
of which has been given in the preceding pages.

1 For reduction to English weights and measures, see under Table 29, page 154 —
* Reduced to 50 jtf alcohol.

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