
Swedish Health System Overview
Health System Rankings
Health System Outcomes
Health System Coverage
Costs for Consumers
Health System Expenditures
Sweden’s COVID-19 Policy
Health System Financing
Medical Personnel
Health System Physical Resources and Utilization
Long-Term Care
Medical Training
Pharmaceuticals
Political System
Economic System
Population Demographics
Social Determinants & Health Equity
Health System History
Health System Challenges
Population (2020): 10.35 Million
Gross National Income, Atlas method (Current USD) (Billions) (2020): $559.62
GNI per capita, Atlas method (Current USD) (2020): $54,050
Income Share Held by Lowest 20% (2018): 7.7%
Gross Domestic Product (Current USD) (Billions) (2020): $541.22
Source: World Development Indicators database. Country: Sweden. World Bank. Accessed Dec. 21, 2021.
Gross Domestic Product Per Capita (Current USD) (2010-2018): $53,253.50
Share of Household Income (2010-2018) (%):
Bottom 40%: 22.1%; Top 20%: 37.6%; Bottom 20%: 8.2%
Gini Coefficient (2010-2018): 29.2
Palma Index of Income Inequality (2010-2018): NA
Gini coefficient – Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income (or, in some cases, consumption expenditure) among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality.
Palma index of income inequality – Palma index is defined as the ratio of the richest 10% of the population’s share of gross national income divided by the poorest 40%’s share.
Source: UNICEF (2019). The State of the World’s Children 2019. Children, Food and Nutrition: Growing well in a changing world. UNICEF, New York.
“Sweden is a strong knowledge-based economy, well integrated in global value chains, which ensures high standards of living, well-being, income and gender equality, as well as a high environmental quality to its inhabitants. Growth has been broad-based over the past five years, with consumption, investment and exports all contributing significantly. Meanwhile, strong domestic demand has pushed up imports (Figure 1).
“Measures of the output gap and indicators of capacity utilisation suggest the economy is operating close to full capacity (Figure 2). Even so, monetary policy remains expansionary, while fiscal policy is slightly expansionary.
“Sweden’s employment rate is the highest in the European Union, reflecting the strength of the economy, high participation of women and labour market institutions generating strong work incentives (Figure 3). Labour shortages appear in various economic sectors, even though the unemployment rate remains higher than the OECD average (Figure 4). Unemployment is now concentrated among the most vulnerable groups, notably the low-skilled and immigrants, which makes further reductions more challenging, notwithstanding some recent progress.
“Productivity growth is among the highest in the OECD, even though it has slowed over the past decade, following the global trend. Nevertheless, it is uneven across sectors, and there is scope for improvement, particularly in sectors with relatively limited exposure to foreign competition. Early adoption and diffusion of technology can foster productivity growth, raise competitiveness and provide the opportunity to develop new economic processes, which could lift well-being, as well as help tackle essential issues such as climate change and the consequences of population ageing. However, it also raises concerns that many jobs could be at risk of automation, with consequences for employment, skills requirements, social protection and income inequality.”
Source: OECD (2019), OECD Economic Surveys: Sweden 2019, OECD Publishing, Paris.
Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems in the US and several other nations.
Page last updated Dec. 21, 2021 by Doug McVay, Editor.