Swedish economy fell 6.5 percent in the first quarter, the worst dive in post-war era.

The Swedish economy shrank by a record 6.5 percent in the first quarter of 2009, compared to the same period last year, Statistics Sweden said Friday. It’s the worst drop since records began in 1970.

“This is the largest drop in Swedish economic history, but in line with expectation,” sais Henrik Mitelman, head analyst with SEB Merchant Banking, to the TT news agency.

According to a compilation by news bureau Six, GDP was thought to have contracted with 6.9 percent during the first quarter, compared to the same period last year.

When seasonally adjusted the GDP decreased by 0.9 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2008 when figures were down 4.9 percent.

For the Swedish export-based industry, times were far from cheerful during the period. Industrial production decreased by 9.0 percent and exports by 16.2 percent. Total producers of goods diminished by 17.3 percent and service sector industries by 3.8 percent.

Household consumption expenditures decreased by 3.0 percent, while general government consumption expenditures increased by 2.3 percent.

The statistics office said earlier this week that Sweden's unemployment rate was stable at 8.3 percent in April, with some 403,000 people out of work.

Sweden's government has said it expects unemployment to rise to 11.7 percent in 2011. Last month, Sweden's central bank slashed its key interest rate in half to a record low of 0.5 percent in a bid to bolster the economy.

The government expects the economy to contract by a massive 4.2 percent this year, after shrinking by 0.2 percent in 2008.