Sweden: Economic and Political Outline

Economic Overview

The international financial crisis plunged Sweden into severe recession in 2009 (-5.1%), as the country depends heavily on international trade. Swedish economy recovered in 2010-2011 (GDP growth of  over 4%), driven by household consumption and a resumption of international trade, however, the eurozone crisis will inhibit growth in 2012 and the latter is estimated at only 1.3 %.

Unlike its European neighbors, Sweden has sound public finances and has resisted the eurozone crisis rather well. However, concerns remain about the possible burst of its housing bubble. fueled by strong growth in loans in recent years. The State Budget for 2012 gives priority to measures countering the economic slowdown and promoting sustained growth and employment, ensuring a fair distribution of social welfare and increasing financial stability. Fiscal measures are also planned to improve the business climate.

Sweden has one of the highest standards of living in the world. However, unemployment is becoming a real problem (7.5%). 

Main Sectors of Industry

Agriculture represents less of 2% of the GDP. The main agricultural products are cereals, dairy products, meat, wood and potatoes. The country has a wealth of natural resources: forests, iron, lead, copper, zinc and hydroelectric energy.
The industrial sector contributes to slightly over a quarter of the GDP. It is dominated by groups such as Volvo, Saab, Ericsson, ABB, AstraZeneca, Electrolux, Ikea, H&M, etc. Sweden's main manufacturing activities are processing wood, paper, electronic equipment, industrial food processing, pharmaceutical products, etc. The new technologies and biotechnologies sectors are of significant importance in the economy.
The tertiary sector employs more than three quarters of the active workforce, it contributes more than 70% of the GDP, and is maintained by telecommunications and IT equipment

Source: World Bank - Last Available Data.

Indicator of Economic Freedom

Score:

71.9/100

Position:

Mostly free

World Rank:

22/179

Regional Rank:

10/42

Distribution of Economic freedom in the world
Source: 2011 Index of Economic freedom, Heritage Foundation

Note: The Economic freedom index measure ten components of economic freedom, grouped into four broad categories or pillars of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spending); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom). Each of the freedoms within these four broad categories is individually scored on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall economic freedom score is a simple average of its scores on the 10 individual freedoms.

Sources of General Economic Information

Ministries

Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications
Ministry of Agriculture

Statistical Office

Statistics Sweden

Central Bank

Riksbank

Stock Exchange

Stockholm Stock Exchange

Main Online Newspapers

The local (in English)
Stockholm News (in English)
Göteborg Posten

Economic Portals

Einnews Sweden

Political Outline

Type of State

The Kingdom of Sweden is a constitutional monarchy based on a parliamentary democracy.

Executive Power

The King is the Head of State. The monarchy is hereditary. The King only has a ceremonial role. After a general election, the Prime Minister is first of all nominated by the parliamentary spokesperson, before being confirmed by the Parliament, for a four year term. The King plays no role in this process. The Prime Minister is the head of the government and he holds the executive power. The Council of Ministers is nominated by the Prime Minister, then submitted to the approval of Parliament.

Legislative Power

The Swedish legislative power is unicameral. The Parliament, called Riksdag, has 349 seats and its members are elected by universal suffrage on the basis of proportional representation for a four year term. The executive branch of government depends on the support of Parliament, often expressed by a vote of confidence. The Prime Minister can dissolve Parliament, even after receiving a vote of no confidence, unless elections took place less than three months before. Legislative power belongs both to the government and to Parliament. Swedish citizens enjoy considerable political rights.

Main Political Parties

Sweden has a multi-party system in which no party can take power by itself. That is why parties have to come to an agreement to form coalition governments. The main political parties in the country are:
- The SAP (Swedish Social Democratic Party) – the social democratic party, its electoral base is among blue collar workers, employees in the public sector and immigrants;
- The Centre Party, social liberals who concentrate on issues concerning agriculture, the environment and the countryside;
- The Christian Democratic Party, which is concerned with elderly people and family values;
- The Green Party, the ecological party which attracts young people and is opposed to membership of the EU;
- The Left Party - the socialist and feminist party, opposed to privatization and membership of the EU;
- The Liberal Party, advocates social liberalism and is considered to be centre right;
- The Moderate Party, the liberal conservative party.

Current Political Leaders

King: CARL XVI GUSTAF (since September 1973) – hereditary.
Prime Minister (incoming) : Fredrik REINFELDT (since October 2006) – Modern Party, head of a coalition with the Centre Party, the Liberal Party and the Christian Democrats.

Next Election Dates

Parliamentary elections: September 2014

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

World Rank:

12/179

Evolution:

7 places down compared to 2010

Source: Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2011, Reporters Without Borders

Note: The world rankings, published annually, measures the violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position is assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire sent to partner organizations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and activists of human rights, including the main criteria - 44 in total - to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).