Swedish Health System Overview
Health System Rankings
Health System Outcomes
Health System Coverage
Costs for Consumers
Health System Expenditures
Sweden’s COVID-19 Policy
Population, Midyear 2022: 10,549,347
Population Density (Number of Persons per Square Kilometer): 25.90
Life Expectancy at Birth, 2022: 83.51
Infant Mortality Rate, 2022 (per 1,000 live births): 1.83
Under-Five Mortality Rate, 2022 (per 1,000 live births): 2.23
Projected Population, Midyear 2030: 11,007,228
Percentage of Total Population Aged 65 and Older, Midyear 2022: 20.25%
Projected Percentage of Total Population Aged 65 and Older, Midyear 2030: 21.84%
Projected Percentage of Total Population Aged 65 and Older, Midyear 2050: 24.76%
Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2023). Data Portal, custom data acquired via website. United Nations: New York. Accessed 12 May 2023.
Population Insurance Coverage For A Core Set Of Healthcare Services* (%) (2019):
Public Coverage: 100%; Primary Private Health Coverage: 0%; Total: 100%
*“Population coverage for health care is defined here as the share of the population eligible for a core set of health care services – whether through public programmes or primary private health insurance. The set of services is country-specific but usually includes consultations with doctors, tests and examinations, and hospital care. Public coverage includes both national health systems and social health insurance. On national health systems, most of the financing comes from general taxation, whereas in social health insurance systems, financing typically comes from a combination of payroll contributions and taxation. Financing is linked to ability-to-pay. Primary private health insurance refers to insurance coverage for a core set of services, and can be voluntary or mandatory by law (for some or all of the population.”
Source: OECD (2021), Health at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ae3016b9-en.
Annual household out-of-pocket payment in current US$ per capita (2019): $787
Source: Global Health Expenditure Database. Health expenditure series. Geneva: World Health Organization. Last accessed July 21, 2022.
Out-of-Pocket Spending as Share of Final Household Consumption (%) (2019): 3.4%
Source: OECD (2021), Health at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ae3016b9-en.
“All Swedish residents are covered for health services, regardless of nationality. The national government is responsible for regulation and supervision, and the 21 Swedish counties have responsibility for financing, purchasing and providing health services. The counties oversee primary, specialist and psychiatric health care, while the 290 municipalities are responsible for care for people with disabilities, rehabilitation services, home care, social care for children and adults, elderly care and school health care. The governance structures established to manage the COVID-19 pandemic included a variety of authorities across levels of government (Box 2).”
Source: OECD (2021), Health at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ae3016b9-en.
“All residents are intended to have equal access to health care services under a largely decentralized system financed mainly through local taxes and some small user charges. Although quality of care and equity of access are good by international standards, long waiting times for elective care have been a cause of dissatisfaction for a number of years.”
Source: Caj Skoglund. “Sweden.” In Voluntary health insurance in Europe: Country experience [Internet]. Sagan A, Thomson S, editors. Copenhagen (Denmark): European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies; 2016. Observatory Studies Series, No. 42.
“Coverage is universal in Sweden, with health services either freely available or with small co-payments. User charges are set by the regions. For 2021, fees were SEK 100-300 (EUR 10-30) for a primary care visit, up to SEK 400 (EUR 40) for a specialist visit – which is lower with a referral – and SEK 100 (EUR 10) per day of hospitalisation for an adult. User fees for medical consultations are capped at SEK 1,150 (EUR 115) per individual per year, and for prescribed medicines at SEK 2,350 (EUR 235). Exemptions from user charges apply for people under 20, older people and pregnant women.”
Source: OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2021), Sweden: Country Health Profile 2021, State of Health in the EU, OECD Publishing, Paris/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels.
“Sweden’s health system provides universal population coverage for a broad basket of services. The majority of OOP is thus attributable to cost sharing requirements. These include co-payments for most health services adults use in Sweden, including hospitalization. Co-payments for health care visits and hospitalization vary across the 21 counties although policies have converged over time. Co-payments are differentiated to steer patients towards use of primary care during office hours. Co-payments for visits to specialist doctors without a referral are about twice as much as for a regular visit to a primary care doctor. In most counties children below age 20 are exempt from co-payments. There is a combined cap for each 12 month period determined at the national level, maximizing total co-payments for outpatient care. Deductibles, co-payments and caps for prescription drugs and dental care are determined fully at the national level. Dental care for individuals under age 22 is free. For adults, there is a deductible of SEK 1000 (€103) for prescription drugs followed by a stepwise increase in subsidies ending in a 12 months cap of SEK 2200 (€226). For dental care to adults, the deductible is SEK 3000 (€308), followed by increase in co-insurance to 85% above SEK 15,000 but without an overall cap. Additional minor changes in terms of additional subsidies for dental care to elderly were introduced in 2013. In 2009, prescription cost-sharing policy was changed such that patients now usually pay the full price for generic alternatives that are not the lowest cost generic. In 2012 cost-sharing limits on prescriptions as well as for outpatient services were increased (from SEK 1800 to SEK 2200 (€ 185–226) and SEK 900 to SEK 1100 (€ 92–113) respectively). These increased cost sharing requirements seem not to have had great impact on the average growth rate in 2004–2014, which was lower than in the previous period. This can perhaps be explained by the fact that the requirements were relatively minor and partially offset by better dental benefits.”
Source: Rice, Thomas et al. “Revisiting out-of-pocket requirements: trends in spending, financial access barriers, and policy in ten high-income countries.” BMC health services research vol. 18,1 371. 18 May. 2018, doi:10.1186/s12913-018-3185-8.
“Some 14% of health spending in Sweden is funded out of pocket – slightly lower than the EU average (15 %). Co-payments are applied to almost all types of services and goods, with the exceptions of maternal and child health services provided in primary care settings and some services for people aged over 85. The regions set the co-payments independently, and the co-payment structure provides an incentive to consult primary care providers over hospital visits. Only the co-payments for prescribed medicines and dental services are set at the national level. Most out-of-pocket spending goes on pharmaceuticals and dental care, as these services are generally less covered than hospital inpatient and outpatient care (Figure 14).”
Source: OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2021), Sweden: Country Health Profile 2021, State of Health in the EU, OECD Publishing, Paris/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels.
“Health care in Denmark and Sweden is based on the Beveridge model, but traditionally managed and financed by local government, not by central government, whereas in the Netherlands, it is based on the Bismarck model. The Netherlands, however, spends a similar percentage of its GDP on health care to that of Denmark and Sweden. Hence, differences within the broad categories of the families of Bismarck and Beveridge models may be as important as the differences between these categories.”
Source: Bevan G, Helderman JK, Wilsford D: Changing choices in health care: implications for equity, efficiency and cost. Health Econ Policy Law. 2010, 5 (3): 251-67. 10.1017/S1744133110000022.
“Health care and other welfare services are considered a public responsibility in Sweden. The Swedish health care system is organized into three levels: the national, regional and local (Fig. 2.1). According to the Swedish Health and Medical Services Act of 1982: “Health and medical services are aimed at assuring the entire population of good health and of care on equal terms. Care shall be provided with due respect for the equal worth of all people and the dignity of the individual. Priority shall be given to those who are in the greatest need of health and medical care”. The responsibility for health care services is divided between the state, county councils/regions and municipalities. The Health and Medical Services Act specifies that the responsibility for ensuring that everyone living in Sweden has access to good health care lies with the county councils/regions and municipalities. The Act is designed to give county councils and municipalities considerable freedom with regard to the organization of their health services. The state, through the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs (Socialdepartementet), is responsible for overall health care policies.
“There are eight government agencies directly involved in the area of health, medical care and public health: the National Board of Health and Welfare, the Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health Care (SBU), the HSAN, the MPA, the TLV, the Swedish Agency for Health and Care Services Analysis, the National Institute for Public Health and the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (see section 2.3.1 National level).
“The 17 county councils and 4 regional bodies are responsible for the funding and provision of health care services to their populations. The 290 municipalities are legally obliged to meet the care and housing needs of older people and people with disabilities. In the Social Services Act of 1980, it is explicitly stated that older people have the right to receive public services and help at all stages of life. People with disabilities are entitled to support not only under the Social Services Act but also under special legislation. The Act Concerning Support and Service for People with Certain Functional Impairments of 1993 regulates support for items such as personal assistance and daily activities.
“There is a mix of publicly and privately owned health care facilities but they are generally publicly funded. Primary care forms the foundation of the health care system and there are over 1100 primary care units throughout the country. In contrast to many other countries, however, primary care has no formal gate-keeping function in a majority of the county councils. There are about 70 hospitals at the county level. Highly specialized care, requiring the most advanced technical equipment, is concentrated to the seven regional/ university hospitals. Counties are grouped into six medical care regions to facilitate cooperation regarding tertiary medical care (see sections 5.3–5.5). The responsibility for performing cross-sectoral follow-up and evaluation of the national public health policy lies with the National Institute of Public Health (Folkhälsoinstitutet).”
Source: Anell A, Glenngård AH, Merkur S. Sweden: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2012, 14(5):1–159.
“Patient fees
“– Hospital stay: max SEK 100/day
“– Primary care: SEK 0–300, depending on the county council
“– Specialist visits: max SEK 400
“High-cost ceiling
“A patient never has to pay more than a total of SEK 1,100 for medical consultations in the course of 12 months – any consultations exceeding SEK 1,100 are free of charge. For prescription medication, nobody pays more than SEK 2,250 in a given 12-month period.
(Note: As of September 25, 2019, the exchange rate was 9.75 Swedish Krona (SEK) to one US dollar.)
Source: The Swedish Institute. “Healthcare In Sweden.” Last accessed September 25, 2019.
“Waiting times for pre-planned care, such as cataract or hip-replacement surgery, have long been a cause of dissatisfaction. As a result, Sweden introduced a healthcare guarantee in 2005.
“This means all patients should be in contact with a local health centre the same day they seek help and have a doctor’s appointment within seven days. After an initial examination, no patient should have to wait more than 90 days to see a specialist, and no more than 90 days for an operation or treatment, once it has been determined what care is needed. If the waiting time is exceeded, patients are offered care elsewhere and the cost, including any travel costs, is paid by their county council.
“Statistics from 2017 indicate that about 79.1 per cent of the patients see a specialist within 90 days and receive treatment or are operated on within a further 90 days.”
Source: The Swedish Institute. “Healthcare In Sweden.” Last accessed September 25, 2019.
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Page last updated May 23, 2023 by Doug McVay, Editor.
