Sweden gained independence from Danish rule in 1523. Poverty and lack of people in
Sweden affected the country very much during its early years as a nation. Not until the 1600s,
when it overpowered many countries during the wars of this time period, did Sweden emerge as
one of Europe’s and the World’s great powers. The Napoleonic Wars during the 1800s marked
the last war that Sweden involved itself in and actually fought. Since then, specifically 1814,
Sweden has remained neutral during the wars of Europe and the World. Currently, Sweden
remains a stable country; socially and politically. Other countries in the world admire Sweden
because of its stability and also because of its great quality of life. Along with this, Sweden
boasts one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world. Geographically, Sweden sits in the
Northern part of Europe in the region known as Scandinavia with Norway and Finland and
Denmark as its closest neighbors. Currently, around 9,103,700 people reside in the Kingdom of
Sweden.
The economy of Sweden, similar to Sweden’s quality of life, currently stands fairly stable
as well. Sweden’s GDP stands at 386.6 billion dollars, and its GNP at 400.37 billion dollars. Not
only do the Swedes have a good GDP ranking, they can also say that their GDP has an annual
growth rate of 4.5 percent. Sweden also ranks very well in the Gini Coefficient. It has a Gini
Coefficient of 0.259 which is ranked eighth in Europe. Factors that contribute to the quality of
Sweden’s economy include: large money-making exports, ideal industrial business environments
and the labor force and workers in Sweden. Other factors exist, but these three have had the
greatest impact on Sweden’s economy.
In Sweden, natural resources like timber (forests), Iron ore, copper, lead, zinc,
hydroelectric power, gold, silver, tungsten, uranium and feldspar are involved in helping
Sweden’s economic status. With several resources available, Sweden has taken advantage and
established itself as a large net exporter. Large manufacturing of machinery and transportation
equipment gives Sweden large amounts of money when exported. These manufacturing exports
make about 45.378 billion dollars for Sweden. Sweden also exports other products, such as:
rubber and chemical products, food, clothing, minerals, electric power and wood products like
paper. All the rest of Sweden’s exports make about 57.5211 billion dollars. Added together,
Sweden’s exports bring in approximately 102.9 billion dollars, a lot of money just from
exporting.
Countries of the world should envy Sweden’s industrial business environment. It brings
creativity. Sweden ranks fairly good in the Ease of Doing Business Index created by the World
Bank. Ranked 14th in 2012, behind very efficient countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, The
United States and Demark to name a few, is a good achievement for Sweden. The industrial and
service sectors in Sweden are huge and Sweden has strayed away from agricultural production;
only to help Sweden. The Swedes have organized this business environment very well and the
people in these businesses will do good, hard work. Not only this, but the business environment
always changes to keep the people of Sweden and its environment satisfied. The industry of
Sweden produces mostly technological products, vehicles, aircraft and other vehicle equipment,
radio and telephone parts, ball bearings (a Swedish invention) and paper. The industrial sector of
Sweden has developed greatly in the past years and now provides 26.1 percent of the nation’s
GDP, roughly 119.538 billion dollars.
The people of Sweden, unlike most other people (besides the United States), can say that
they work hard and have smart, working brains. Sweden ranks as No. 1 in higher education in
Europe, a great title to hold. In the world, Sweden comes in second, without surprise, behind the
United States. With such a good education, Sweden produces great, smart, and educated people
to employ, which makes work in Sweden high quality. But Sweden not only attracts Swedish
workers, the great and creative business environment attracts great workers from foreign
countries. In addition to this, the unemployment rate in Sweden has declined in the past years, to
reach where it currently stands at 7.2%, a fairly low percentage of people out of work. A little
over five million people work in Sweden. Of these workers, 1.1% work with Agriculture, so
about fifty-thousand people, about as many people living in Farmington, New Mexico. 28.2% of
the five million Swedish workers work in the industry sector, so about 1,413,102 people work in
this sector. The final and largest sector, services, in Sweden consists of 70.7% of the labor force.
These final 3,542,777 employees work in the service sector and also provides Sweden with a
load of money. The labor force in Sweden has high education levels, so they can work in great
jobs with good wages and do good work to make good money. These well-educated people
impact not only their country but the world with their services. The service sector of Sweden
makes up 70.9% of the GDP, which is 2,733,262,000 dollars. These workers produced by
Sweden have certainly helped Sweden create its stable economy.
Unlike the other countries in Scandinavia, Sweden is moving forward. Sweden has
recovered from the global recession very well and has kept that momentum. Sweden ranks very
well in the Quality of Life Index. With a score of 7.937 out 10, Sweden is fifth out of the
countries included in the index. The economy in Sweden can be something that most other
countries can envy. With a country full of diverse resources, being a net exporter was a great and
still is a great idea. With foreign trade and business creativity as a tool, Sweden receives enough
money to successfully keep moving forward and becoming a better country.
Caleb Bia
Sweden Economic Profile
10/17/2012
Niklaus Traneus. Sweden No. 2 in Ranking of National Higher Education Systems. Swedish Institute.
blogs.sweden.se 5/15/2012.
Sebastian Lindholm & James McVeigh. Stockholm University. 7/5/2012. www.su.se 10/16/2012
Sweden Country Brief. Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. 8/2011.
www.dfat.gov.au 10/12/2012.
The World Factbook. CIA. 10/2012. www.cia.gov 10/16/2012.
Gross Domestic Product 2011. World Bank. 9/18/2012. databank.worldbank.org 10/16/2012
Unlike Much of the Rest of Europe, Sweden is Roaring Ahead, The Economist. 6/9/2011.
www.economist.com 10/13/2012.
Nima Sanandaji. Sweden: A Role Model for Capitalist Reform?. New Geography. 6/18/2011.
www.newgeography.com 10/16/2012.
Background Note: Sweden. U.S. Department of State. 4/5/2012. www.state.gov 10/16/2012.
Sweden Economic Profile
Caleb Bia
Economics
10/18/2012