Sweden EU Member
Overview
Capital: Stockholm
Official EU language(s): Swedish
EU Member State: since 1 January 1995
Currency: Swedish krona SEK. Sweden has committed to adopt the euro once it fulfils the necessary conditions.
Schengen: member since 25 March 2001
Figures:
- Geographical size: 447 424 km2
- Population: 10 551 707 (2024)
(Source: Eurostat – figures for geographical size and population)
Political system
Sweden is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The prime minister is the head of government and the monarch is the head of state. The government exercises executive power. Legislative power is vested in the single-chamber parliament (349 members). Sweden is a unitary state, divided into 20 counties and 290 municipalities.
Trade and economy
Sweden ranks eighth in the European Union in terms of GDP per capita with €43 000, well above the EU average (€37 600). It accounts for 3.2% of the EU’s total GDP.
(Source: Eurostat - figures for GDP per capita and GDP)
Budgets and funding
How does Sweden benefit from the EU budget?
The EU budget is the tool to ensure that Europe remains a democratic, peaceful, prosperous and competitive force. The EU uses it to finance its priorities and big projects that most individual EU countries could not finance on their own.
The benefits of EU membership significantly exceed the size of the EU budget contributions and the examples are many. All Member States benefit from being part of the Single Market, a shared approach to the common challenges of migration, terrorism and climate change, and concrete gains like better transport infrastructure, modernised and digitalised public services and cutting-edge medical treatment.
How much each EU country pays into the EU budget is calculated fairly. The larger your country’s economy, the more it pays – and vice versa.
The EU budget is not about giving and taking – it’s about collectively contributing to making Europe and the world a better place for us all.
EU-funded projects in Sweden
Money from the EU budget helps fund programmes and projects in all EU countries – for example to build roads, subsidise researchers and protect the environment.
Find out more about how Sweden benefits from EU funding and recovery funds in your country or region.
