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
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.
Annual Population Growth Rate 2000-2018: 0.6%
Projected Annual Population Growth Rate 2018-2030: 0.5%
Proportion of Urban Population, 2018: 87%
Annual Growth Rate of Urban Population 2000-2018: 0.9%
Projected Annual Growth Rate of Urban Population 2018-2030: 0.8%
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 situated in northern Europe, bordering Finland and Norway, and covers an area of 449,964 square km (see Fig. 1.1). The Swedish coastline (7300 km) is the longest in Europe. More than 57% of the country is covered by forest, and mountains dominate the north-western part. Due to the Gulf Stream, the climate is mild compared to other areas this far north. People are increasingly moving from the rural areas to the urban areas. The size of the population was about 9.4 million inhabitants in February 2011 and more than 80% of the population lived in urban areas (Statistics Sweden, 2011d). On average, there are 20 inhabitants per square km of land, with a high concentration of people living in the coastal regions and in the south of the country (see Table 1.1).
“Swedish is the main language and Swedes are the predominant ethnic group. There are two minority groups of native inhabitants in the northern part of Sweden: the Meänkielie-speaking (similar to Finnish) people of the north-east and the Sami population. In 2010, almost one-fifth of the population either had another country of birth or both parents had another country of birth than Sweden, originating mainly from the other Nordic countries, the former Yugoslavia and the Middle East (Statistics Sweden, 2011d). More than 70% of the population belongs to the Church of Sweden, which is Lutheran. The Church was separated from the state in the year 2000 (Church of Sweden, 2011).”
Source: Anell A, Glenngård AH, Merkur S. Sweden: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2012, 14(5):1–159.
World 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 sixteen other nations.
Page last updated May 23, 2023 by Doug McVay, Editor.
