Facts and figures about Sweden

Facts and figures about Sweden

  • Capital: Stockholm
  • Population: 10 million, about 0.13 per cent of the world’s population
  • Life expectancy: Men 80.1 years, women 83.7 years
  • Foreign-born inhabitants: 16 per cent
  • Religion: The Church of Sweden is Evangelical Lutheran. There are also many other religions and denominations
  • Language: Swedish
  • Form of government: Constitutional monarchy, with parliamentary democracy
  • Parliament: The Riksdag, with 349 members in a single chamber
  • National Day: 6 June
  • Education: Nine years of compulsory schooling, but most pupils continue to the three-year upper secondary school. Around one-third go on to higher education at universities and colleges throughout Sweden
  • Working hours: Standard work week is 40 hours, minimum paid vacation is 5 weeks
  • Labour force participation: Men: 68.6 per cent. Women: 63.7 per cent
  • Longest north-south distance: 1,574 km
  • Longest east-west distance: 499 km
  • Total area: 528,447 sq km, the third-largest country in Western Europe after France and Spain
  • Urban and industrial land: 3 per cent
  • Agricultural land: 8 per cent
  • Forests: 53 per cent
  • Marshland: 9 per cent
  • Grasslands: 7 per cent
  • Bare rocks and mountains: 12 per cent
  • Lakes and rivers: 9 per cent
  • Highest mountain: Kebnekaise (2,103 m)
  • Biggest lake: Vänern (5,650 sq km)
  • Calling code: +46
  • Internet code: .se
  • Time zone: GMT (UTC) +1
  • Currency: 1 krona (SEK) = 100 öre; for details see Swedish Krona rates and converter
  • GDP per capita (PPP): SEK 372,800
  • GNI per capita: SEK 381,100
  • Population in major cities (including suburbs): Stockholm: 2,123,300 – Gothenburg: 928,600 – Malmö: 656,400
  • Most important export goods: Machinery and transport equipment, chemicals and plastic and rubber products, electronics and telecommunications equipment, energy products, industrial machinery, road vehicles, minerals, foodstuffs

The Swedish flag

Sweden in Swedish spelling

Sweden = Sverige.

Swedish (the language) = svenska.

More info

www.sweden.se/society/key-facts-about-sweden/

We recommend Sweden.se if you are looking for background information on geography, society, politics and culture. However, this is not the official tourism website of Sweden.

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Source for the “Basic facts”: Statistics Sweden. This text was originally published on Sweden.se, Sweden’s official website, in 2014 (we have updated some figures since then). It is republished with permission from Sweden.se.