Are you curious about the major imports in Sweden?
Trading history
During the age of the Vikings, Swedish trade flourished. The main occupations of the Vikings were farming and trade. Parts of Sweden were well-known trade centres in the Baltic region. Thanks to the Viking expeditions, Swedish imports of foreign goods that could not be found in Sweden, such as gold, silver, textiles and salt, were now available in the Swedish market. In exchange, the Viking brought commodities such as tools made of iron and other metals that were natural assets in Sweden.
As the power of the Vikings declined, Sweden’s economic development stagnated and lagged for centuries. At the end of the 19th century, Sweden was one of the poorest countries in Europe. The industrialisation changed this dramatically. An economic boom took place that was strongly connected to the building of railroads, allowing access to natural assets (forests, iron ore, hydropower) in northern Sweden. Those assets are still considered the traditional basis of the Swedish economy.
Swedish major imports by important commodity groups
| January-February (Value in SEK millions ) |
2010 |
2009 |
Share % 2010 |
| Wood and paper products |
4 684 |
4 681 |
3.1 |
| Minerals |
12 552 |
11 292 |
8.3 |
| Chemicals, rubber products |
21 873 |
20 555 |
14.4 |
| Mineral fuels, electric current |
20 759 |
15 349 |
13.7 |
| Machinery, transport equipment |
60 591 |
57 604 |
40.0 |
| Other products |
30 966 |
34 001 |
20.4 |
Source: SCB
Trade today
Today, the Swedish market is specialised and uses high-level technology solutions in order to compete globally. International trade is the engine of the Swedish economy. Sweden is an export-oriented country and dependent on imported goods. Sweden imports mostly electronic and telecom equipment, machinery, foodstuffs, crude oil, textile products, footwear and passenger cars.
The Swedish imports mainly come from countries within EU (69%), but Swedish imports also originate from Norway (9%), China (3.8%) and Russia (3.76%). However, the large share of Swedish imports from EU countries is to some extent misleading since it includes third country imports through EU countries.
Dependant on free trade
Sweden is dependent on imports of raw material and components for the industry. In terms of foodstuffs, the agricultural production is limited by the climate and geography. Consequently, Sweden imports almost twice as much as we export and the value of Swedish imports of foodstuff was approximately 88 billion SEK in 2008. The Swedish imports include products that cannot be grown economically in Sweden, such as wine, some vegetables and fruits, sweet corn, rice, oils, raw coffee, tea and cocoa. Other important Swedish imports from developing countries are textile and clothing.