Facts about Sweden

Sweden is a Nordic country
  1. Debt: Sweden is owed over 2.6 billion SEK by North Korea. Back in the 70s, the Asian country bought a lot of Volvos from our brother nation. Sweden hasn’t received that money yet, and they’re still sending North Korea a reminder of their outstanding debt.
  2. Illness: You may be familiar with the feeling that sometimes you need a vacation after you’ve been on vacation. The Swedes actually understand this. If you get sick while on vacation, you can actually use your sick days during that period.
  3. Early retirement: A man in Sweden is no longer able to work. His affliction? He goes to too many heavy metal concerts. That’s roughly 300 concerts a year for him, which is almost one a year. The incredible thing is that his condition has been recognized and he is being compensated by the state.
  4. Waste: Swedes love to keep their waste to a minimum. Much of their waste is either converted into other forms of energy or ends up being recycled. However, this has created another problem: too little waste to keep the incinerators running. So they import waste from Norway and the UK.
  5. Disney: Donald Duck as a character has always been more popular than Mickey Mouse here in the Nordics. In Sweden, however, they take it even more seriously. The well-known Disney Christmas show as we know it in Denmark is called in Swedish: “Donald Duck and his friends wish you a Merry Christmas”.
  6. Pause: In most countries, we like a lunch break during the workday. In Sweden, they go one step further. They have a concept called “Fika”. It’s an idea embedded in Swedish culture that during the workday you take a break or two to relax, talk and – most of all – not work.
  7. Spank: It is illegal to hit your children. That’s logical for most people, thankfully. But Sweden was actually the first country in the world to make it illegal to hit your children. The ban was introduced in 1979. In comparison, it was only made illegal in Denmark in 1997.
  8. Fast food: We don’t associate Swedes with unhealthy living, and they aren’t unhealthy per se. However, Sweden has the highest number of MacDonald’s restaurants per capita.
  9. Forest: Sweden is a large country, but if you compare the number of inhabitants to the Danish population and look at the area of Denmark, there are actually not that many more Swedes than Danes. This is because much of Sweden’s land is covered in forest. In fact, 2/3 of Sweden is covered in forest. This corresponds to 280,650 square kilometers of the country.
  10. Donations: Sweden really wants the world to do well. In fact, Sweden donates so much to foreign countries, among others, that their donation share is 1 percent of their gross domestic product. It is the only country in the world where this is the case.

Fact: Sweden is the country with the highest number of McDonald's restaurants per capita

Fact: Sweden is the country with the highest number of McDonald’s restaurants per capita

Geographic facts

  • Location: Northern Europe; bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, Kattegat and Skagerrak, between Finland and Norway
  • Country borders: Finland 545 km, Norway 1,666 km
  • Coastline: 3,218 km
  • Climate: Temperate in the south with cold, cloudy winters and cool, partly cloudy summers; subarctic in the north
  • Landscape: Mostly flat or gently rolling lowland mountains in the west
  • Lowest point: Hammarsjön near Kristianstad: -2.4 m
  • Highest point: Kebnekaise: 2,111 m
  • Natural resources: Iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver, tungsten, uranium, arsenic, feldspar, wood, hydropower
  • Largest city: Stockholm
  • Capital city: Stockholm
  • Total area (square kilometers): n/a
  • Land areas (km2): n/a
  • Urban areas (km2): n/a
  • Agricultural land (km2): n/a
  • Agricultural area (% of total area): n/a
  • Forest area (% of land area): n/a
  • Plant species (higher), endangered: n/a
  • CO2 emissions (metric tons per capita): n/a

Demographic facts

Population

  • Population density (people per km2 total area): 1.700.066,00 (2023)
  • Population of largest city: 0,47 (2023)
  • Population growth (annual %): 10.536.632,00 (2023)
  • Population, total: 16,10 (2022)
  • Population growth in urban areas (annual %): 0,75 (2023)
  • Population in urban areas (% of total population): 89,50 (2022)
  • Population in rural areas (% of total population): 11,26 (2023)
  • Population growth in rural areas (annual %): -1,69 (2023)
  • Etniske grupper: 80.9% Swedes, 1.8% Syrians, 1.4% Finns, 1.4% Iraqis, 14.5% others
  • Sprog: Swedish (the official language), Finnish, Sami, Romani, Yiddish and Meankieli are official minority languages
  • Religioner: 60.2% Svenska kyrkan (Lutheran), 8.5% other (includes Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist), 31.3% none or unspecified
  • Net immigration: 9,24 (2022)

Birth and death rates

  • Fertility rate, total (births per woman): 1,52 (2022)
  • Birth rate, gross (per 1,000 inhabitants): 10,00 (2022)
  • Teenage mothers (% of women aged 15-19 who have had children or are pregnant): 9,57 (2020)
  • Death rate, gross (per 1,000 people): 9,00 (2022)
  • Life expectancy at birth, women (years): 84,80 (2022)
  • Life expectancy at birth, men (years): 81,50 (2022)
  • Life expectancy at birth, all (years): 83,11 (2022)
  • Mortality caused by traffic accidents (per 100,000 inhabitants): 35,78 (2022)
  • Mortality, women (per 1,000 adult women): 56,85 (2022)
  • Mortality, male (per 1,000 adult males): 9,50 (2019)
  • Suicide rate, women (per 100,000 women): 19,90 (2019)
  • Mortality, infant (per 1,000 live births): 39.998,00 (2023)

Work, income and education

  • Wage earners, total (% of total labor force): n/a
  • Income share of the highest 10%: 22,70 (2021)
  • Income share of the lowest 10%: 2,80 (2021)
  • Unemployment, total (% of total labor force): 7,61 (2023)
  • Labor force, total: 5.825.253,00 (2023)
  • Workforce with basic education (% of the workforce): 45,72 (2023)
  • Labor force with medium education (% of labor force): 68,66 (2023)
  • Number of poor cf. national poverty limits (% of the population): n/a
  • Proportion of the population with moderate or severe food insecurity (%): 5,40 (2021)
  • School enrolments, primary school (gross %): 116,43 (2022)
  • Youth unemployment, all young people (% of total labor force aged 15 - 24): 88,74 (2023)
  • Young people not in education, employment or training, total (% of all young people): 5,12 (2023)
  • Literacy/literacy, total adults (% of population over 15): 1,00 (2018)

    Spending

  • Household (and NPIS) consumption expenditure (US$): 310.803.294.565,44 (2023)
  • Electricity consumption (kWh per inhabitant): 13.480,15 (2014)
  • Inhabitants using the Internet (% of the population): 95,70 (2023)
  • Mobile subscriptions (per 100 people): 3,10 (2019)
  • Number of smokers, total (over 15 years): 24,00 (2020)
  • Alcohol consumption per capita (litres of pure alcohol, expected estimates, +15 years): 22,07 (2023)

Business and tourism

  • Employers, total (% of total labor force): 3,37 (2022)
  • New companies (number of registrations): 11,63 (2019)
  • New businesses (new registrations per 1,000 inhabitants aged 15 - 64): 60.215,00 (2022)
  • Listed companies, total: 278,00 (2002)
  • Business conditions (0 = lowest grade to 100 = highest grade): 9.714,00 (2021)
  • International tourism, number of arrivals: 1.957.000,00 (2020)
  • International tourism, number of departures: 6.081.000,00 (2020)
  • Railway lines (total route kilometers): 9.714,00 (2021)
  • Railways, number of passengers transported (million passenger-kilometres): 8.008,00 (2021)

Health

  • Hospital beds (per 1,000 inhabitants): 2,05 (2020)
  • Suicide rate, men (per 100,000 men): 2,00 (2022)
  • Nurses and midwives (per 1,000 inhabitants): 7,06 (2020)
  • Doctors (per 1,000 inhabitants): 25,57 (2021)
  • Prevalence of HIV, total (% of population aged 15 - 49): 133,47 (2023)

Facts Sweden's economy

GDP and GNI

  • BNP (US$): 1,09 (2006)
  • GDP growth (annual %): 81,99 (2019)
  • GDP per capita (US$): 593.267.701.033,41 (2023)
  • GDP, KPP (US$): -0,20 (2023)
  • BNI (US$): 56.305,25 (2023)
  • GNI growth (annual %): 739.741.230.780,84 (2023)
  • Gross savings (% of GDP): 616.804.949.244,81 (2023)

Inflation, interest rates and consumer prices

  • Deposit rate (%): 19,55 (2021)
  • Lending rate (%): 8,55 (2023)
  • Inflation, consumer prices (annual %): 22,78 (2023)
  • Consumer Price Index (2010 = 100): 133,47 (2023)

Trade and production

  • Trade (% of GDP): 1,02 (2017)
  • Vareeksport (US$): 13,06 (2023)
  • Vareimport (US$): 77.456.032.668,13 (2023)
  • Food exports (% of merchandise exports): 6,77 (2023)
  • Food imports (% of goods imports): 10,88 (2023)
  • Food Production Index (2004 - 2006 = 100): 101,15 (2022)
  • Index of animal production (2004 - 2006 = 100): 35,40 (2019)

Industry

  • Industry (including construction), value added (% of GDP): 3,03 (2022)
  • Industry (including construction), value added (US$): 33,52 (2023)
  • Industry, value added (% of GDP): 3,68 (2006)
  • Industry, value added (US$): 99,81 (2022)

Military

  • Armed forces, total: 15.000,00 (2020)
  • Military expenditure (% of GDP): 197.860.000.000,00 (2023)
  • Military Expenditure (US$): 193.016.000.000,00 (2023)

Others

  • Current health expenditure (% of GDP): 19,55 (2021)
  • Labor tax and contribution (% of company profit): 135.141.395.113,92 (2023)
  • Development Assistance (ODA) received per capita (US$): 1,31 (2022)
  • Social contributions (% of income): 7.722.479.440,75 (2022)