The Swedish gross domestic product (GDP) experienced a recession due to the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in 2020, falling by 1.7 percent that year. However, in 2021, the GDP grew by nearly six percent and continued to grow in 2022, albeit at a slower pace.

In the second quarter of 2020, after the outbreak of COVID-19, the quarterly growth rate of the gross domestic product (GDP) in Sweden fell by almost eight percent compared to the same quarter in 2019. The growth rate kept decreasing until the first quarter of 2021. In the second quarter of 2021, the quarterly GDP growth rate in Sweden was positive for the first time since the outbreak of COVID-19, and continued to be so until the final quarter of 2022, when it decreased by 0.5 percent compared to the same quarter in 2021 due to the high inflation rates in the country. The GDP of Sweden decreased through the last three quarters of 2023.

Sweden’s gross domestic product generally increased over the past decade apart from the year 2020, when it decreased slightly due to the coronavirus pandemic. The decline in the growth rate was -1.7 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year.Household consumption affects the GDP There are many factors affecting the gross domestic product of a country, and the household consumption is one important factor. The household consumption is connected to several factors, such as level of employment and inflation, as people will hold on to their savings in times of high unemployment and high inflation. In recent years, both the inflation rate and unemployment rate were exceptionally high, leading to slowing GDP growth.Export of goods Another important factor influencing Sweden’s GDP is the export of services and goods. High export levels will boost a country's GDP. However, if imports exceed exports, this leads to a trade deficit, having a negative impact on a country's currency.

The ratio of the Swedish central government debt to its gross domestic product (GDP) fell from 2014 to 2019, before increasing again in 2020, following the outbreak of COVID-19. In 2023, the central government debt in Sweden made up 16 percent of the GDP. In 2022, the debt was over one trillion Swedish kronor.

Negative budget balance in 2020

The government debt is affected by the relationship between the central government’s expenditures and incomes. In 2021, the governments income was close to 1.2 trillion Swedish kronor, which was higher than the expenditures that amounted to just above 1.1 trillion Swedish kronor. Hence, the Swedish government had a budget balance of 80 billion Swedish kronor that year.

 Government expenditure

The expenditure of the Swedish central government increased sharply in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Support packages to hardly affected industries and laid off employees took a toll on the Swedish national budget. The largest post of expenditure was financial support to the local municipalities, amounting to 150 billion Swedish kronor in 2021. Health care and social care was the second highest post, followed by health- and social care.

This statistic shows the distribution of the gross domestic product (GDP) across economic sectors in Sweden from 2013 to 2023. In 2023, agriculture contributed around 0.99 percent to the GDP of Sweden, 23.25 percent came from the industry and 65.22 percent from the service sector.

The gross domestic product per capita in Sweden increased over the past 10 years. It fell in 2020 after the outbreak of COVID-19, but increased again since, reaching 586,000 Swedish kronor in 2023. The gross domestic product at current prices followed the same pattern.GDP growth rate The gross domestic product in Sweden had a negative growth rate of 1.7 percent in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It had a positive growth rate the previous 10 years except for 2012. The GDP in Sweden is felll somewhat in 2023 as a result of high inflation rates. Exports of goods Exports of services and goods is a large driver for the Swedish gross domestic product, especially the exports of goods, even though the exports of services are growing at a quicker pace.

From 2011 to 2022, Sweden had the highest gross domestic product (GDP) of the Nordic countries. In 2022, it was estimated to be at 591 billion U.S. dollars, and is expected to reach almost 720 billion in 2027. Norway had the second highest GDP in this time period, but it dropped significantly after the fall in the oil price in 2014. Denmark has consistently been the third largest Nordic economy in this time. Iceland has the lowest GDP in the region, with just 28 billion U.S. dollars in 2022; around 10 percent the size of Finland's.

The tax ratio as a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) in Sweden was at its highest in 2016 and 2017, reaching over 44 percent these years. In 2022, it was at 41.8 percent. Moreover, the GDP in the country increased since 2010, despite a decrease in 2020 after the outbreak of COVID-19.

Increase in government revenues

The increase of the GDP generated a constant central government revenue in Sweden. In 2021, the revenue of the Government of Sweden reached nearly 1.2 trillion Swedish kronor.

 Source of income

The largest source of the central government’s income came from tax from direct labor. This amounted to nearly 690 billion Swedish kronor in 2021. Tax from consumption and income generated the second highest income for the Swedish central government at above 650 billion Swedish kronor.

After decreasing from 2015 to 2019, reaching 1.11 trillion Swedish kronor, it increased again in 2020 following the COVID-19 pandemic. The national debt fell slightly again the following years. In 2023, Sweden's national debt made up 16 percent of its GDP. Central government budget balance The central government debt is determined by the budget balance, which was 164 billion Swedish kronor in 2022. That year, the central government expenditure was over 1.1 trillion Swedish kronor. The Swedish government spent the highest sum on general aid to local municipalities. Central government income The largest source of central government income comes from direct tax from labor, which amounted to over 715 billion Swedish kronor in 2022. The second highest income source was consumption and input tax.

In 2022, Denmark had the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita index of the Nordic countries. Denmark's GDP per capita index was at 113, with an index equaling 100 in 2015. The index of all five Nordic countries dropped in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it fell below 2015 levels in Iceland that year.

Until 2014, Norway's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was a lot higher than the other Nordic countries'. However, after the fall of the oil price in 2014, Norway's GDP per capita decreased, but is still the highest in the region, and it increased to over 105,000 U.S. dollars in 2022. Moreover, while Iceland had the lowest GDP per capita together with Finland in 2015, it had the second highest in 2023 ahead of Denmark. The Nordic countries have some of the highest GDPs per capita in the world.

The employment rate among Sweden's foreign-born population increased slowly from 2011 to 2019, but fell in 2020 after the outbreak of COVID-19, reaching 60.6 percent in 2021. Following the peak of the pandemic, this increased to 67.1 percent in 2023. Simultaneously, the unemployment rate increased, nearly reaching 20 percent in 2021 after being around 15 percent in the years before the pandemic. It then fell to pre-pandemic levels in 2022, and reached 15.1 by 2023. By comparison, the overall employment rate in Sweden was 69.4 percent in 2023, making it five percentage points higher than among the foreign-born population.

The social welfare expenditure in Sweden was just below 10.8 billion Swedish kronor in 2022. From 2016 to 2020, the total amount of expenditure on social welfare increased, before falling slightly in 2021 and 2022. The total number of recipients has decreased over the past few years.

To help the economically vulnerable

The purpose of social welfare in Sweden is to help the economically vulnerable households to reach a reasonable standard of living through monthly benefits. From 2014, the average monthly amount received has increased, reaching 9,100 in 2022.

 Age of the recipients

The age of the recipients differs between the municipalities in Sweden, depending on the number of inhabitants per age group, the labor market in the municipality, and the education level of the working age population. The most common age of recipients was from 30 to 39 years. This age group consisted of nearly 43,000 of the roughly 300,000 recipients.

The number of hospital beds in Sweden decreased during the period from 2000 to 2022. In 2022, there were almost 20 thousand hospital beds in Sweden. During these years, the majority of the hospital beds were in public sector-owned hospitals. In 2020, the public sector had two beds per thousand inhabitants, while the private sector had 0.2 beds per thousand inhabitants.Health care expenditure The total expenditure on health care in Sweden, as share of the gross domestic product (GDP) was overall higher from 2011 on. The share was relatively stable during the following period, with some fluctuations, and reached almost 11 percent in 2023, which was relatively high compared to in other OECD member countries.  Hospital beds in Denmark showed similar trend Sweden’s neighboring country Denmark basically followed the same pattern in the number of hospital beds. The hospital beds in Denmark generally decreased between 2010 and 2023, from over 20 thousand beds in 2010 to around an estimated 14.5 thousand in 2023.

Since 2009 and 2010, respectively, employment rates among men and women in Sweden increased steadily until the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, when it fell for both genders. The fall was more steep for women than men. In 2023, the employment rate for men was nearly 72 percent, whereas it was 67 percent for women. The total employment rate in the country was 69 percent. The income gap Even though the employment rate was higher for men than for women for all years in the period, Sweden was still among the countries with the highest female employment rates worldwide. The gap between male and female salaries is also small. In 2022, women’s average earnings as a percentage of men’s was 95 percent, when controlled for occupation, age, education, sector and number of working hours.Different employment types for men and women More men than women were permanent employees and self-employed in Sweden, while a higher number of women than men were temporary employees. Around 332,000 men and 403,000 women were temporary employees.

The two Volvo companies, Volvo AB and Volvo Car AB seized the two top spots on the list of the top twenty companies with the highest turnover in Sweden as of August 2023. Ranked first was Volvo AB, with a turnover reaching more than 370 billion Swedish kronor. Volvo AB (also known as Volvo Group) is a world leading manufacturer of mainly trucks, but also buses, and marine and industrial engines.

 Volvo Cars AB ranked as second

Volvo Cars AB was ranked second in the top twenty companies ranking in Sweden, with a turnover of more than 280 billion Swedish kronor. Volvo Cars used to be part of Volvo AB until 1999 and is today owned by the automotive company Geely.

Volvo Group on a global scale

Volvo Group’s net sales on a global scale indreased until 2019, but fell in 2020 after the outbreak of COVID-19. In 2022, Volvo Group's global revenue was 473 billion Swedish kronor.

During the period from 2017 until 2022, the countries which consistently ranked as the most digitalized in the European Union were Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden. These countries scored highly across all categories measured in the EU's digital economy and society index (DESI) - that is, human capital, connectivity, integration of digital technology, and digital public services.

On the other hand, the member states that came at the bottom of the DESI rankings were mostly newer member states who have joined the EU since 2004. Some countries have made great strides in digitalizing their economy and society over this five year period including Italy, Czechia, and Cyprus.