A military power during the 17th century, Sweden maintained a policy of military non-alignment until it applied to join NATO in May 2022. Stockholm preserved and armed neutrality in both World Wars. Since then, Sweden has pursued a successful economic formula consisting of a capitalist system intermixed with substantial welfare elements. Sweden joined the EU in 1995, but the public rejected the introduction of the euro in a 2003 referendum. The share of Sweden’s population born abroad increased from 11.3% in 2000 to 20% in 2021.
land: 410,335 sq km
water: 39,960 sq km
border countries (2): Finland 545 km; Norway 1,666 km
exclusive economic zone: agreed boundaries or midlines
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
lowest point: reclaimed bay of Lake Hammarsjon, near Kristianstad -2.4 m
mean elevation: 320 m
arable land: 6.4% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 1.1% (2018 est.)
forest: 68.7% (2018 est.)
other: 23.8% (2018 est.)
10,536,338 (2023 est.)
noun: Swede(s)
adjective: Swedish
Swedish 80.3%, Syrian 1.9%, Iraqi 1.4%, Finnish 1.4%, other 15%
Swedish (official)
major-language sample(s):
The World Factbook, den obestridliga källan för grundläggande information. (Swedish)
The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
note: Finnish, Sami, Romani, Yiddish, and Meankieli are official minority languages
Church of Sweden (Lutheran) 57.6%, other (includes Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist) 8.9%, none or unspecified 33.5% (2019 est.)
note: estimates reflect registered members of faith communities eligible for state funding (not all religions are state-funded and not all people who identify with a particular religion are registered members) and the Church of Sweden
Sweden, the largest Nordic country in terms of size and population, is also Europe’s most sparsely populated. Most Swedish men and women agree that both partners should contribute to household income. Swedish society is very gender equal, which is reflected in the country’s public policies. A generous leave policy and high-quality subsidized childcare allows mothers and fathers to balance work and family life. Sweden’s income-replacement-based parental leave policy encourages women to establish themselves in the workforce before having children. In fact, Swedish women have one of the highest labor participation rates in Europe and one of its highest total fertility rates (TFR), the number of children women have in their lifetime. Postponement of parenthood has increased steadily. Since the late 1960s, marriage and divorce rates have declined, while non-marital cohabitation and births out of wedlock have increased rapidly. Sweden’s TFR has hovered for decades around 2, which is close to replacement level and among Europe’s highest.Sweden experienced “the great emigration” between 1850 and the 1930s when, faced with famines, approximately 1.5 million Swedes sought a better life in the Americas and Australia. However, since World War II, Sweden has been a country of immigration. During World War II, thousands of refugees from neighboring countries worked in Swedish factories, agriculture, and forestry, replacing Swedish men who were called up for military service. During the 1950s and 1960s, Sweden joined the Geneva Convention and granted permanent residence to refugees from the USSR and the Warsaw Pact countries. During this period, Sweden also welcomed labor migrants, mainly from Finland and other Nordic countries, who bolstered the tax base needed to fund the country’s welfare programs.Until 1971, labor migrants, particularly from Finland, southern Europe (including then Yugoslavia, Italy, and Greece) the Baltics, and Turkey, came to Sweden as its industries flourished. Companies recruited many of the workers, but others came on their own. Sweden’s labor demand eventually decreased, and the job market became saturated. The government restricted the flow of labor migrants, putting an end to labor migration from non-Nordic countries in 1972. From then until the 1990s, inflows consisted largely of asylum seekers from the Middle East, the Balkans, and South America, as well as persons looking to reunite with family members already in Sweden. The country began a new era of labor immigration in 2008, as companies were encouraged to hire non-EU workers. Among the largest source countries have been India, Thailand, and China. As of 2020, over a quarter of Sweden’s population had a migrant background.
0-14 years: 17.26% (male 936,274/female 882,347)
15-64 years: 62.05% (male 3,346,891/female 3,190,608)
65 years and over: 20.69% (2023 est.) (male 1,021,707/female 1,158,511)
total dependency ratio: 60.8
youth dependency ratio: 28.5
elderly dependency ratio: 32.3
potential support ratio: 3.1 (2021 est.)
total: 41 years (2023 est.)
male: 40 years
female: 42 years
0.51% (2023 est.)
10.8 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
9.5 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
3.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
most Swedes live in the south where the climate is milder and there is better connectivity to mainland Europe; population clusters are found all along the Baltic coast in the east; the interior areas of the north remain sparsely populated
urban population: 88.7% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 0.89% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
1.700 million STOCKHOLM (capital) (2023)
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
29.7 years (2020 est.)
5 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
total: 2.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
male: 2.5 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 2.1 deaths/1,000 live births
total population: 82.8 years (2023 est.)
male: 81.1 years
female: 84.7 years
1.67 children born/woman (2023 est.)
0.8 (2023 est.)
70.3% (2017)
note: percent of women aged 16-49
improved: urban: 99.8% of population
rural: 99.7% of population
total: 99.8% of population
unimproved: urban: 0.2% of population
rural: 0.3% of population
total: 0.2% of population (2020 est.)
11.4% of GDP (2020)
7.09 physicians/1,000 population (2019)
2.1 beds/1,000 population (2018)
improved: urban: 100% of population
rural: 100% of population
total: 100% of population
unimproved: urban: 0% of population
rural: 0% of population
total: 0% of population (2020 est.)
20.6% (2016)
total: 7.1 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 2.6 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 3.4 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 1 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 0.1 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total: 24% (2020 est.)
male: 29.8% (2020 est.)
female: 18.2% (2020 est.)
NA
53.4% (2023 est.)
7.2% of GDP (2020 est.)
total population: NA
male: NA
female: NA
total: 20 years
male: 18 years
female: 21 years (2020)
marine pollution (Baltic Sea and North Sea); acid rain damage to soils and lakes; air pollution; inappropriate timber harvesting practices
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
temperate in south with cold, cloudy winters and cool, partly cloudy summers; subarctic in north
agricultural land: 7.5% (2018 est.)
arable land: 6.4% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 1.1% (2018 est.)
forest: 68.7% (2018 est.)
other: 23.8% (2018 est.)
urban population: 88.7% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 0.89% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
0.21% of GDP (2018 est.)
0% of GDP (2018 est.)
particulate matter emissions: 5.96 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
carbon dioxide emissions: 43.25 megatons (2016 est.)
methane emissions: 4.42 megatons (2020 est.)
municipal solid waste generated annually: 4.377 million tons (2015 est.)
municipal solid waste recycled annually: 1,416,835 tons (2015 est.)
percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 32.4% (2015 est.)
fresh water lake(s): Vanern - 5,580 sq km; Vattern - 1,910 sq km; Malaren - 1,140 sq km
municipal: 700 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
industrial: 1.27 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
agricultural: 100 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
174 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
small, open, competitive, and thriving economy that remains outside of the euro zone; has achieved an enviable standard of living, with its combination of free-market capitalism and extensive welfare benefits
$574.877 billion (2022 est.)
$558.427 billion (2021 est.)
$531.455 billion (2020 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
2.6% (2022 est.)
5.08% (2021 est.)
-2.17% (2020 est.)
$54,800 (2022 est.)
$53,600 (2021 est.)
$51,300 (2020 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
$531.35 billion (2019 est.)
2.16% (2021 est.)
0.5% (2020 est.)
1.78% (2019 est.)
Fitch rating: AAA (2004)
Moody’s rating: Aaa (2002)
Standard & Poors rating: AAA (2004)
note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.
agriculture: 1.6% (2017 est.)
industry: 33% (2017 est.)
services: 65.4% (2017 est.)comparison rankings:
household consumption: 44.1% (2017 est.)
government consumption: 26% (2017 est.)
investment in fixed capital: 24.9% (2017 est.)
investment in inventories: 0.8% (2017 est.)
exports of goods and services: 45.3% (2017 est.)
imports of goods and services: -41.1% (2017 est.)
wheat, milk, sugar beets, barley, potatoes, oats, rapeseed, pork, rye, triticale
iron and steel, precision equipment (bearings, radio and telephone parts, armaments), wood pulp and paper products, processed foods, motor vehicles
5.72% (2021 est.)
5.556 million (2021 est.)
8.66% (2021 est.)
8.29% (2020 est.)
6.83% (2019 est.)
total: 24.5% (2021 est.)
male: 26.1%
female: 23%
17.1% (2018 est.)
29.3 (2019 est.)
on food: 12.4% of household expenditures (2018 est.)
on alcohol and tobacco: 3.4% of household expenditures (2018 est.)
lowest 10%: 3.4%
highest 10%: 24% (2012)
revenues: $259.17 billion (2019 est.)
expenditures: $256.454 billion (2019 est.)
1.3% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
44% of GDP (2020 est.)
38.69% of GDP (2019 est.)
42.28% of GDP (2018 est.)
note: data cover general government debt and include debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intragovernmental debt; intragovernmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions
26.58% (of GDP) (2020 est.)
calendar year
$34.075 billion (2021 est.)
$32.372 billion (2020 est.)
$29.361 billion (2019 est.)
$290.793 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$241.94 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$257.293 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
Germany 10%, Norway 9%, United States 8%, Denmark 8%, Finland 6% (2021)
cars and vehicle parts, refined petroleum, packaged medicines, lumber, iron, broadcasting equipment (2021)
$263.269 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$217.165 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$233.648 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
Germany 18%, Netherlands 9%, Norway 8%, China 7%, Denmark 7% (2021)
cars and vehicle parts, crude petroleum, refined petroleum, broadcasting equipment, computers (2021)
$62.053 billion (31 December 2021 est.)
$58.26 billion (31 December 2020 est.)
$55.51 billion (31 December 2019 est.)
$911.317 billion (2019 est.)
$1,012,171,000,000 (2018 est.)
Swedish kronor (SEK) per US dollar -
Exchange rates:
8.577 (2021 est.)
9.21 (2020 est.)
9.458 (2019 est.)
8.693 (2018 est.)
8.549 (2017 est.)
electrification - total population: 100% (2021)
installed generating capacity: 43.499 million kW (2020 est.)
consumption: 124.609 billion kWh (2020 est.)
exports: 36.824 billion kWh (2020 est.)
imports: 11.827 billion kWh (2020 est.)
transmission/distribution losses: 10.434 billion kWh (2020 est.)comparison rankings:
fossil fuels: 1% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
nuclear: 29.5% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
solar: 0.7% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
wind: 17.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
hydroelectricity: 44.7% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
biomass and waste: 6.9% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Number of operational nuclear reactors: 6 (2023)
Number of nuclear reactors under construction: 0
Net capacity of operational nuclear reactors: 6.94GW (2023)
Percent of total electricity production: 30.8% (2021)
Percent of total energy produced: 34% (2021)
Number of nuclear reactors permanently shut down: 4
production: 1.07 million metric tons (2020 est.)
consumption: 3.328 million metric tons (2020 est.)
exports: 24,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
imports: 2.144 million metric tons (2020 est.)
proven reserves: 1 million metric tons (2019 est.)
total petroleum production: 10,600 bbl/day (2021 est.)
refined petroleum consumption: 295,800 bbl/day (2019 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate exports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate imports: 403,200 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil estimated reserves: 0 barrels (2021 est.)
413,200 bbl/day (2017 est.)
371,100 bbl/day (2017 est.)
229,600 bbl/day (2017 est.)
production: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
consumption: 1,275,785,000 cubic meters (2020 est.)
exports: 34.886 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
imports: 1,310,671,000 cubic meters (2020 est.)
proven reserves: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
48.144 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from coal and metallurgical coke: 7.38 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from petroleum and other liquids: 38.406 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from consumed natural gas: 2.359 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
210.882 million Btu/person (2019 est.)
number of registered air carriers: 11 (2020)
inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 316
SE
231 (2021)
149
civil airports: 26
military airports: 4
joint use (civil-military) airports: 3
other airports: 116
note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
82
note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control
2 (2021)
1626 km gas (2013)
total: 10,910 km (2020) 8,184 km electrified
narrow gauge: 65 km
total: 573,134 km (2016) (includes 2,050 km of expressways)
paved: 140,100 km (2016)
unpaved: 433,034 km (2016)
note: includes 98,500 km of state roads, 433,034 km of private roads, and 41,600 km of municipal roads
2,052 km (2010)
total: 368 (2022)
by type: general cargo 46, oil tanker 21, other 301
major seaport(s): Brofjorden, Goteborg, Helsingborg, Karlshamn, Lulea, Malmo, Stockholm, Trelleborg, Visby
LNG terminal(s) (import): Brunnsviksholme, Lysekil
Sweden operates four PC 3 or 4 class medium icebreakers in the Baltic Sea
note - PC indicates a Polar Class vessel: PC 3 - year-round operation in second-year ice which may include multi-year ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 2.5 m); PC 4 - year-round operation in thick first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 120 cm)
manyapis