Sweden: A Rare Earth Discovery

Sweden: A Rare Earth Discovery

According to Sweden’s state-owned mining company LKAB, more than one million tons of rare earth oxides—the largest deposit of its kind in Europe—was discovered near Kiruna, about 1,000 kilometers north of Stockholm.

 
 
Source
Central bank

Sveriges Riksbank

International Reserves

USD 58.26 billion (2020)
World Bank, last updated 12/16/2021

Gross Domestic Product - GDP

USD 622.37 billion (2021 estimate)
IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2021

GDP (Purchasing Power Parity)

USD 609.48 billion (2021 estimate)
IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2021

Real GDP growth
2017 2018 2019 2020* 2021*
2.6% 2% 2% –2.8% 4%

*Estimate

GDP per capita - current prices

USD 58,639.19 (2021 estimate)
IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2021

GDP per capita - PPP

USD 57,425.00 (2021 estimate)
IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2021

GDP (PPP) - share of world total

0.42% (2021 estimate)
IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2021

 
 
Source
GDP - composition by sector
  • agriculture: 1.4% 
  • industry: 21.1% 
  • services: 66.1%

(2018 estimate)

Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP)

3.4% (2019)
OECD, retrieved January 2022

Inflation
2017 2018 2019 2020* 2021*
1.9% 2% 1.7% 0.7% 2%

*Estimate

Unemployment rate
2017 2018 2019 2020* 2021*
6.7% 6.3% 6.8% 8.3% 8.9%

*Estimate

Household saving rates

17.1% (2020)
OECD, retrieved January 2022

 

Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP)
2017 2018 2019 2020* 2021*
40.7% 38.9% 34.9% 37.3% 39.6%

*Estimate

Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP)
2017 2018 2019 2020* 2021*
1.4% 0.8% 0.4% –3.2% –2.8%

*Estimate

Government bond ratings

Standard & Poor's: AAA

Moody's: aaa

Standard & Poor's / Moody's (January 2022)

Market value of publicly traded shares

N/A

Largest companies

Volvo Group, Investor AB, Ericsson, SEB AB, Svenska Handelsbanken, Swedbank, Atlas Copco, Essity Ab, Sandvik, Assa Abloy, H&M - Hennes & Mauritz, Skanska, Industrivarden, Kinnevik, Telia, Hexagon, Epiroc, Fastighets Balder, ICA Gruppen, SKF Group, Boliden, Latour Ab Investment, Electrolux Group, Lundbergs, AB Sagax, Evolution Gaming Group AB, EQT AB, Samhallsbyggnadsbolaget I Norden, Swedish Match, Tele2, Alfa Laval, Heimstaden AB Pref. Shs
Forbes Global 2000 (2021)

 
 
Source
Current account balance

USD 29.9 billion (2021 estimate)
IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2021

Current account balance by percentage of GDP

4.8% (2021 estimate)
IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2021

Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services)

44.6% (2020)
World Bank - World Development Indicators (updated Feb 2022)

Shares in world total merchandising export

0.88% (2020)

Shares in world total commercial services export

1.3% (2020)

Total exports

USD 239.8 billion (2020 estimate)

Export commodities

Cars and vehicle parts, packaged medicines, refined petroleum, broadcasting equipment, lumber (2019)

Total imports

USD 217.4 billion (2020 estimate)

 
 
Source
Import commodities

Cars and vehicle parts, crude petroleum, refined petroleum, broadcasting equipment, computers (2019)

Exports - major partners

Germany 10%, Norway 9%, United States 8%, Denmark 7%, Finland 6%, United Kingdom 5%, Netherlands 5%, China 5% (2019)

Imports - major partners

Germany 18%, Netherlands 9%, Denmark 7%, Norway 7%, China 6%, Finland 5%, Belgium 5%, Poland 5% (2019)

FDI inflows
2019 2020 2021
USD 4.2 billion USD 10.1 billion USD 26.1 billion
FDI outflows
2019 2020 2021
USD 17.8 billion USD 15.5 billion USD 31 billion
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser
2018 2019 2020 2021
USD –941 million USD 7.4 billion USD to 21.1 million USD 24.3 billion
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014

N/A

Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015

N/A

(for a monthly update on M&A; click here )

Best countries for doing business

Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.

Overall ranking: 10 out of 190 countries (2020)

Subcategories:

Starting a Business: 39 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 31 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 10 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 9 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 80 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 28 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 31 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 18 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 39 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 17 out of 190 countries
World Bank - Doing Business 2020

Global competitiveness ranking

5 out of 141 (2019)
World Economic Forum / Global competitiveness ranking

Index of Economic Freedom

Ranking: 11 / Score: 77.9 (Mostly Free)
The Heritage Foundation - 2022 Index of Economic Freedom

 
 
Source
Time zone

UTC+1

Total area

450,295 sq km

Capital

Stockholm 

Currency

Swedish kronor (SEK)

Government type

Parliamentary constitutional monarchy

Languages

Swedish (official)

Note: Finnish, Sami, Romani, Yiddish, and Meankieli are official minority languages

Religions

Church of Sweden (Lutheran) 57.6%, other (includes Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist) 8.9%, none or unspecified 33.5% (2019 est.)

Total population
1990 2000 2010 2015 2020
8.56 million 8.87 million 9.38 million 9.8 million 10.35 million
 
 
Source
Urban population as % of total population
1960 1980 2000 2020
73% 83% 84% 88%
Population median age

41.1 (2022 est.)

Population growth rate

0.5% (2022 est.)

Life expectancy

82.7 years

Literacy

N/A

% of population living on less than $3.10 a day

N/A

Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)

29.3 (last available estimate, 2019)

Freedom House rating

Total score: 100/100

Status: Free

Political Rights: 40/40

Civil Liberties: 60/60 (2022)

Source
Total telephone subscribers as % of population

Fixed: 14.6%

Mobile: 126.7% (2020) (fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)

Internet users as % of total population

94.5% (2020)

Mercer Cost of living index

N/A

CO2 emissions

3.5 metric tons per capita (2018)

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