Expense in Sweden

Sweden: Expense was 32.5% in 2022. ▲ Rising

Latest (2022)
32.5%
Change on year
down 2.1%
World rank
51st
of 157 countries
All-time high
44.3%
in 1993
All-time low
23.0%
in 1973
Years of data
51
1972–2022

Expense in Sweden, 1972–2022

010203040197219972022

Source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of GDP.

Analysis

Sweden recorded 32.5% for expense in 2022.

The figure is down 2.1% on the previous year and down 1.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, expense in Sweden peaked at 44.3% in 1993 and was at its lowest, 23.0%, in 1973.

Sweden ranks 51st of 157 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 51 years of available data.

Expense in Sweden, year by year

Annual values for Expense (% of GDP) in Sweden, 1972 to 2022.
Year % of GDP Change
1972 23.0%
1973 23.0% -0.3%
1974 24.2% +5.3%
1975 24.6% +1.5%
1976 26.7% +8.7%
1977 29.7% +11.5%
1978 31.9% +7.3%
1979 33.5% +5.0%
1980 33.7% +0.6%
1981 36.5% +8.2%
1982 37.2% +1.8%
1983 38.9% +4.8%
1984 37.7% -3.1%
1985 38.9% +3.0%
1986 37.4% -3.8%
1987 35.8% -4.2%
1988 34.6% -3.4%
1989 34.0% -1.6%
1990 35.2% +3.5%
1991 36.7% +4.1%
1992 39.8% +8.4%
1993 44.3% +11.4%
1994 42.0% -5.1%
1995 42.6% +1.5%
1996 40.1% -5.9%
1997 38.3% -4.5%
1998 37.5% -2.2%
1999 36.4% -2.9%
2000 34.5% -5.1%
2001 33.2% -3.8%
2002 33.6% +1.0%
2003 33.7% +0.5%
2004 32.8% -2.9%
2005 33.1% +1.2%
2006 32.0% -3.4%
2007 31.3% -2.4%
2008 31.7% +1.5%
2009 33.9% +6.9%
2010 33.3% -2.0%
2011 32.4% -2.5%
2012 33.0% +1.8%
2013 33.7% +2.2%
2014 33.3% -1.4%
2015 32.4% -2.7%
2016 32.1% -0.8%
2017 32.0% -0.4%
2018 32.0% +0.2%
2019 31.4% -2.0%
2020 34.9% +11.2%
2021 33.2% -5.0%
2022 32.5% -2.1%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 27.1% 23.0% 33.5% 8
1980s 36.5% 33.7% 38.9% 10
1990s 39.3% 35.2% 44.3% 10
2000s 33.0% 31.3% 34.5% 10
2010s 32.6% 31.4% 33.7% 10
2020s 33.5% 32.5% 34.9% 3

Countries ranked near Sweden

  1. 48 Trinidad and Tobago 33.3% compare
  2. 49 Colombia 33.3% compare
  3. 50 Türkiye 33.0% compare
  4. 52 Brazil 32.4% compare
  5. 53 Iceland 32.0% compare
  6. 54 Mongolia 31.7% compare

See the full ranking of 183 places →

More economy & growth data for Sweden

All data for Sweden →

Frequently asked questions

What is expense in Sweden?
Expense in Sweden was 32.5% in 2022, according to Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
What is the highest expense recorded in Sweden?
The highest recorded value was 44.3% in 1993.
What is the lowest expense recorded in Sweden?
The lowest recorded value was 23.0% in 1973.
How does Sweden rank for expense?
Sweden ranks 51st out of 157 countries with data for 2022.
Is expense rising or falling in Sweden?
Over the last ten years it is down 1.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Sweden data come from?
The figures come from Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Expense (% of GDP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Expense in Sweden. Statizoid, drawing on Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Retrieved 26 August 2026, from https://economy.statizoid.com/stat/expense-percent-of-gdp/sweden/

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About this data

Indicator
Expense (% of GDP)
Unit
% of GDP
Source
Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
183 places, 5,211 data points, 1972–2024
Last refreshed

Expense is a decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.