Country Facts - Sweden

The People

Nationality Swede(s)

Ethnic Composition

The main population group is composed of Swedish-born Caucasians. Lapps (Sami) and foreign-born or first-generation immigrants (Finns, Yugoslavs, Danes, Norwegians, Greeks, and Turks) make up the balance.
Religious Composition

Evangelical Lutheran	87%
Roman Catholic	1.5%
Pentecostal	1.0%
Other	3.5%

Languages Spoken

Swedish is the official language, and there are small Lapp- and Finnish-speaking minorities. English is widely spoken and understood as well.

Education and Literacy

Sweden has an excellent education system with 99 percent of the population over the age of 15 considered literate.

Labor Force

Total: 4.4 million (2000)
By occupation:

Services	74%
Industry	24%
Agriculture	2%

Note: Over 80 percent of labor is unionized...

Geography

Land Mass Total

173,732 sq mi (449,964 sq km)

Land

158,662 sq mi (410,934 sq km)

Water

15,069 sq mi (39,030 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 1,370 mi (2,205 km)

Border countries: Finland 364 mi (586 km), Norway 1,005 mi (1,619 km)

Coastline

1,999 mi (3,218 km)

Maritime claim

Continental shelf: 656 ft (200 m) depth or to the depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone: Agreed boundaries or midlines
Territorial sea: 12 nm (adjustments made to return a portion of straits to
high seas)

Climate/Weather

Temperate in south with cold, cloudy winters and cool, partly cloudy summers; subarctic in north

Terrain

Mostly flat or gently rolling lowlands; mountains in west

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Baltic Sea 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Kebnekaise 6,925 ft (2,111 m)

Natural Resources

Zinc, iron ore, lead, copper, silver, timber, uranium, hydropower

Land use

Arable land	7%
Permanent crops	0%
Other	93%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Ice floes in the surrounding waters, especially in the Gulf of Bothnia, can interfere with maritime traffic.

Environment - current issues

Acid rain damaging soils and lakes; pollution of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea

Geography Note

Strategic location along Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas

Demographics

Population

8,876,744 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	18%	Male: 817,688	Female: 776,018
15-64 years:	64.7%	Male: 2,922,095	Female: 2,824,770
65 years and over:	17.3%	Male: 651,120	Female: 885,053

(2002))

Growth Rate

0.02% (2002)

Life Expectancy

79.84 years (2002)
Female: 82.64 years
Male: 77.19 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$24,700 (2001)

Infant Mortality

3.44 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.06 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.74 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.98 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

0.95 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

Aided by peace and neutrality for the whole 20th century, Sweden has achieved an enviable standard of living under a mixed system of high-tech capitalism and extensive welfare benefits. It has a modern distribution system, excellent internal and external communications, and a skilled labor force. Timber, hydropower, and iron ore constitute the resource base of an economy heavily oriented toward foreign trade. Privately owned firms account for about 90 percent of industrial output, of which the engineering sector accounts for 50 percent of output and exports. Agriculture accounts for only 2 percent of GDP and 2 percent of the jobs. The government's commitment to fiscal discipline resulted in a substantive budgetary surplus in 2001, but is expected to shrink somewhat in 2002, due to the global economic slowdown, tax cuts, and spending increases. The Swedish central bank (the Riksbank) is focusing on price stability with an inflation target of 2 percent for 2002. Growth should pick up to 2.25 percent in 2003, assuming a moderate global recovery, with movement towards 2.5 percent in 2004. Like many countries in Western Europe, Sweden's economy is burdened with an aging population and an expensive social system that is short on future revenues but long on recipients. Sweden is set for a referendum on the euro in September of 2003 and much of the nation's goodwill towards the currency will be shaped by the EU's general economic status.

Unemployment

3.9% (2001)

Inflation Rate

2.7% (2001)

Industries

Iron and steel, precision equipment (bearings, radio and telephone parts, armaments), wood pulp and paper products, processed foods, motor vehicles

Exports

US$96 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$89.2 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$219 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

EU 53.6% (Germany 10.6%, UK 9.1%, Denmark 5.3%, France 5.1%), US 9.5%, Norway 7.5% (2000)

Top Import Partners

EU 60.3% (Germany 16.3%, UK 8.8%, Denmark 6.7%, France 5.6%), Norway 8.2%, US 6.7% (2000)

Top Exports

Machinery 35%, motor vehicles, paper products, pulp and wood, iron and steel products, chemicals

Top Imports

Machinery, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, motor vehicles, iron and steel; foodstuffs, clothing

Debt - external

US$66.5 billion (1994)

Economic aid

Donor: ODA, $1.7 billion (1997)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	7a.m & 9a.m. to 3p.m. & 6p.m. Lunch: usually between 11:30a.m. and 3p.m.	Closed
Retail	9a.m. to 6p.m.	Saturday 10a.m. to 2p.m. or 4p.m. Some open on Sundays.
Banks	9:30a.m. to 4p.m.	Closed
Government	9a.m. to 4p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Eve of Epiphany	January 5	January 5	January 5
Epiphany	January 6	January 6	January 6
Good Friday	April 18	April 9	March 25
Easter¹	April 20	April 11	March 27
Easter Monday	April 21	April 12	March 28
Valborg Eve (May Day Eve, bank holiday)	April 30	April 30	April 30
Labor Day	May 1	May1	May 1
Ascension²	May 29	May 20	May 6
Whit Monday³	June 9	May 31	May 16
National Day	June 6	June 6	June 6
Midsummer Eve (bank holiday)*¹	June 20	June 26	June 25
Midsummer Day	June 21	June 27	June 26
National Day	October 26	October 26	October 26
All Saints' Eve (bank holiday)	October 29	October 29	October 29
All Saints' Day	October 30	October 30	October 30
Christmas Day*²	December 25	December 25	December 25
Boxing Day	December 26	December 26	December 26
New Year's Eve (bank holiday)	December 30	December 30	December 30

¹	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
²	The feast of Ascension takes place 40 days after Easter in both the Christian and Orthodox faiths and celebrates the ascent of Christ into Heaven.
³	The Christian feast of Pentecost, Whit Sunday or Whit Monday takes place 50 days after Easter, in observation of the day God came to the disciples through the Holy Ghost.
*¹	Midsummer Eve and Midsummer Day fall on the Saturday after June 19, and celebrate the spring solstice.
*²	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Note: The eve of a holiday is as important as the holiday itself. Most banks and civil offices close early, and most Swedes take the day off.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press