Government health spending as a share of GDP in Sweden
Sweden: Government health spending as a share of GDP was 9.3% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
9.3%
Change on year
down 2.8%
World rank
4th
of 59 countries
All-time high
9.8%
in 2020
All-time low
0.1%
in 1880
Years of data
72
1880–2025
Government health spending as a share of GDP in Sweden, 1880–2025
Source: OECD (2026); OECD (1993); Lindert (1994) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Sweden recorded 9.3% for government health spending as a share of gdp in 2025.
That represents a change of down 2.8% on the previous year and up 1.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government health spending as a share of gdp in Sweden peaked at 9.8% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 1880.
That places Sweden 4th out of 59 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 72 years of available data.
Government health spending as a share of GDP in Sweden, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 0.1% | — |
| 1890 | 0.2% | +33.3% |
| 1900 | 0.2% | +18.8% |
| 1910 | 0.3% | +63.2% |
| 1920 | 0.2% | -19.4% |
| 1930 | 0.9% | +256.0% |
| 1960 | 2.5% | +182.1% |
| 1961 | 2.6% | +2.3% |
| 1962 | 2.6% | +2.5% |
| 1963 | 3.0% | +13.1% |
| 1964 | 3.1% | +3.6% |
| 1965 | 3.3% | +6.0% |
| 1966 | 3.6% | +10.5% |
| 1967 | 3.9% | +7.0% |
| 1968 | 4.3% | +10.0% |
| 1969 | 4.3% | +1.2% |
| 1970 | 4.6% | +5.8% |
| 1971 | 5.0% | +9.6% |
| 1972 | 5.1% | +1.8% |
| 1973 | 5.0% | -0.8% |
| 1974 | 5.5% | +9.3% |
| 1975 | 5.8% | +4.9% |
| 1976 | 6.0% | +4.4% |
| 1977 | 6.8% | +12.7% |
| 1978 | 6.9% | +0.9% |
| 1979 | 6.8% | -1.2% |
| 1980 | 7.1% | +5.2% |
| 1981 | 7.2% | +0.5% |
| 1982 | 7.2% | +0.8% |
| 1983 | 7.1% | -1.2% |
| 1984 | 7.0% | -2.3% |
| 1985 | 6.5% | -6.6% |
| 1986 | 6.3% | -3.1% |
| 1987 | 6.4% | +1.2% |
| 1988 | 6.3% | -1.6% |
| 1989 | 6.3% | +1.0% |
| 1990 | 5.7% | -10.0% |
| 1991 | 5.6% | -2.4% |
| 1992 | 6.5% | +16.4% |
| 1993 | 6.7% | +3.4% |
| 1994 | 6.4% | -5.2% |
| 1995 | 6.2% | -1.7% |
| 1996 | 6.5% | +3.3% |
| 1997 | 6.2% | -3.9% |
| 1998 | 6.3% | +0.9% |
| 1999 | 6.3% | +0.5% |
| 2000 | 6.3% | -0.3% |
| 2001 | 6.5% | +3.1% |
| 2002 | 6.7% | +4.3% |
| 2003 | 6.9% | +2.3% |
| 2004 | 6.7% | -2.6% |
| 2005 | 6.7% | -0.2% |
| 2006 | 6.6% | -1.4% |
| 2007 | 6.6% | -0.6% |
| 2008 | 6.8% | +3.1% |
| 2009 | 7.2% | +6.7% |
| 2010 | 6.9% | -5.2% |
| 2011 | 8.9% | +29.5% |
| 2012 | 9.1% | +2.8% |
| 2013 | 9.2% | +1.2% |
| 2014 | 9.3% | +0.8% |
| 2015 | 9.2% | -1.5% |
| 2016 | 9.2% | +0.8% |
| 2017 | 9.3% | +0.4% |
| 2018 | 9.4% | +1.4% |
| 2019 | 9.3% | -1.0% |
| 2020 | 9.8% | +5.9% |
| 2021 | 9.7% | -1.3% |
| 2022 | 9.4% | -3.3% |
| 2023 | 9.7% | +3.1% |
| 2024 | 9.6% | -0.9% |
| 2025 | 9.3% | -2.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 1 |
| 1890s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 1 |
| 1900s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 1 |
| 1910s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 1 |
| 1920s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 1 |
| 1930s | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 1 |
| 1960s | 3.3% | 2.5% | 4.3% | 10 |
| 1970s | 5.7% | 4.6% | 6.9% | 10 |
| 1980s | 6.7% | 6.3% | 7.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 6.2% | 5.6% | 6.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 6.7% | 6.3% | 7.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 9.0% | 6.9% | 9.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 9.6% | 9.3% | 9.8% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sweden
More health data for Sweden
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate -0.8581 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,109 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 30 deaths (2100)
- Population ages 0-14, female, annual growth rate -1.39 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female, per capita 0.0811 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male, annual growth rate -1.4 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male, per capita 0.0859 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government health spending as a share of gdp in Sweden?
- Government health spending as a share of gdp in Sweden was 9.3% in 2025, according to OECD (2026); OECD (1993); Lindert (1994) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest government health spending as a share of gdp recorded in Sweden?
- The highest recorded value was 9.8% in 2020.
- What is the lowest government health spending as a share of gdp recorded in Sweden?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 1880.
- How does Sweden rank for government health spending as a share of gdp?
- Sweden ranks 4th out of 59 countries with data for 2025.
- Is government health spending as a share of gdp rising or falling in Sweden?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sweden data come from?
- The figures come from OECD (2026); OECD (1993); Lindert (1994) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Government health spending as a share of GDP. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Public health expenditure divided by gross domestic product, expressed as a percentage.