01Key Takeaways
- Sweden exported $197.53 billion worth of goods in 2023, up just 0.0% from $197.53 billion in 2022, essentially unchanged and the most recent year with verified trade data available in this dataset.
- Machinery and mechanical appliances led every export category at 14.6% ($28.79 billion), with vehicles ranking a close second at 14.0% ($27.65 billion).
- Germany was Sweden's largest export partner, taking 10.2% of exports, worth $20.18 billion.
- The top three export partners together accounted for 28.1% of total export value, a far more spread-out partner base than many other economies in this dataset.
025-Year Trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $160.5B | $154.9B | $189.6B | $197.5B | $197.5B |
03Top Export Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany | $20.2B | 10.2% |
| 2 | Norway | $18.2B | 9.2% |
| 3 | United States | $17.1B | 8.7% |
| 4 | Denmark | $13.8B | 7.0% |
| 5 | Finland | $13.6B | 6.9% |
| 6 | Netherlands | $10.6B | 5.4% |
| 7 | United Kingdom | $10.5B | 5.3% |
| 8 | France | $8.7B | 4.4% |
| 9 | Belgium | $8.4B | 4.3% |
| 10 | Poland | $7.5B | 3.8% |
04Top Export Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Parts thereof | $28.8B | 14.6% |
| 2 | Vehicles other than Railway or Tramway Rolling-Stock, and parts and accessories thereof | $27.7B | 14.0% |
| 3 | Electrical Machinery and Equipment and parts thereof; Sound Recorders and Reproducers, Television Image and Sound Recorders and Reproducers, and Parts and Accessories of such Articles | $17.3B | 8.7% |
| 4 | Mineral Fuels, Mineral Oils and Products of their Distillation; Bituminous Substances; Mineral Waxes | $14.8B | 7.5% |
| 5 | Pharmaceutical Products | $13.6B | 6.9% |
| 6 | Paper and Paperboard; Articles of Paper Pulp, of Paper or of Paperboard | $9.0B | 4.6% |
| 7 | Commodities not specified according to kind | $8.4B | 4.3% |
| 8 | Iron and Steel | $8.0B | 4.0% |
| 9 | Plastics and Articles thereof | $6.2B | 3.1% |
| 10 | Fish and Crustaceans, Molluscs and other Aquatic Invertebrates | $5.7B | 2.9% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
Export Value Held Almost Perfectly Flat in 2023
Sweden exported $197.53 billion worth of goods in 2023, up just 0.0% from $197.53 billion in 2022. This is the most recent year with verified trade data available in this dataset. The dataset covers a full five years, from 2019 through 2023.
Export value stood at $160.53 billion in 2019. It fell to $154.94 billion in 2020, the low point of this five-year window. It then climbed for two consecutive years in a row, reaching $189.64 billion in 2021 and $197.53 billion in 2022, before landing at almost the identical $197.53 billion in 2023.
This dataset does not explain the 2020 dip or the two-year climb that followed. Export value in 2023 nonetheless remained well above every year in this window before 2022. A change of just 0.0% describes an unusually flat year. It arrives right after two years of strong growth, rather than continuing that climb or reversing it. The five-year pattern traces a dip, a steep two-year climb, and then a plateau, rather than a steady move in one direction. Landing within a few tens of millions of dollars of the prior year, out of a total base measured in the hundreds of billions, is a far tighter margin than the swings seen in most other years across this dataset.
Machinery, Vehicles and Electronics Anchor a Diversified Export List
Machinery and mechanical appliances led every export category in 2023, worth $28.79 billion, or 14.6% of the total. Vehicles ranked a close second at 14.0%, worth $27.65 billion. Machinery and transport equipment together make up close to 45% of Sweden's exports, with industrial machinery and road vehicles the two largest single categories within that group, a pattern closely reflected in this dataset's own top two categories.
Electrical machinery and equipment followed at 8.7%, worth $17.26 billion. Mineral fuels added 7.5%, worth $14.77 billion, and pharmaceutical products rounded out a top five at 6.9%, worth $13.59 billion.
Paper and paperboard contributed 4.6% ($9.05 billion), and a category labeled "Commodities not specified according to kind," a recognized catch-all classification within international trade statistics for shipments that do not map to a single specific product code, added 4.3% ($8.45 billion). Iron and steel contributed 4.0% ($7.98 billion), and plastics added 3.1% ($6.15 billion). Fish and crustaceans closed out the top ten at 2.9%, worth $5.67 billion, the smallest share among the ten categories listed here. Machinery and vehicles together lead this list by a wide margin. The remaining eight categories are spread fairly evenly beneath them, describing a broad industrial export base rather than a single dominant sector. Paper and forestry-linked products sitting alongside pharmaceuticals and steel on the same list points to an export base that draws on several distinct industries at once, rather than one or two sectors carrying the entire ranking.
Germany, Norway and the United States Lead a Spread-Out Partner List
Germany was Sweden's largest export partner in 2023, taking 10.2% of exports, worth $20.18 billion. Norway ranked second at 9.2%, worth $18.25 billion. United States followed at 8.7%, worth $17.09 billion. Together, these top three partners accounted for 28.1% of total export value, a notably lower concentration than seen among many other economies in this dataset.
Denmark contributed 7.0% ($13.83 billion), and Finland added 6.9% ($13.58 billion), rounding out a top five made up entirely of neighboring Nordic markets alongside Germany and the United States. Netherlands followed at 5.4% ($10.61 billion), and United Kingdom added 5.3% ($10.48 billion).
France contributed 4.4% ($8.69 billion), and Belgium added 4.3% ($8.42 billion). Poland closed out the top ten at 3.8%, worth $7.52 billion, the smallest share among the ten partners listed here. Every partner on this list holds a share above 3.8%. The gap between first and tenth place is far narrower than in more concentrated economies covered elsewhere in this dataset. Nine of these ten partners sit within continental Europe or the Nordic region, with only the United States breaking that pattern from outside the continent.
Taken together, this dataset's most recent confirmed year describes an export profile built around machinery, vehicles and electronics, holding almost perfectly steady after two years of rapid growth. That profile is sold to a broad, evenly spread base of European and North American partners rather than any single dominant market.