01Key Takeaways
- Sweden imported $193.24 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 4.8% from $203.00 billion in 2022, the most recent year with verified trade data available in this dataset.
- Electrical machinery led every import category at 12.7% ($24.50 billion), narrowly ahead of machinery and mechanical appliances at 12.4% ($24.01 billion).
- Germany was Sweden's largest import partner, supplying 16.7% of imports, worth $32.20 billion.
- The top three import partners together accounted for 37.8% of total import value.
025-Year Trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $159.0B | $149.4B | $187.3B | $203.0B | $193.2B |
03Top Import Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany | $32.2B | 16.7% |
| 2 | Netherlands | $21.0B | 10.9% |
| 3 | Norway | $19.9B | 10.3% |
| 4 | Denmark | $12.3B | 6.4% |
| 5 | China | $11.1B | 5.7% |
| 6 | Belgium | $9.7B | 5.0% |
| 7 | Finland | $8.8B | 4.6% |
| 8 | Poland | $8.5B | 4.4% |
| 9 | France | $7.2B | 3.7% |
| 10 | United States | $7.2B | 3.7% |
04Top Import Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 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 | $24.5B | 12.7% |
| 2 | Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Parts thereof | $24.0B | 12.4% |
| 3 | Vehicles other than Railway or Tramway Rolling-Stock, and parts and accessories thereof | $22.2B | 11.5% |
| 4 | Mineral Fuels, Mineral Oils and Products of their Distillation; Bituminous Substances; Mineral Waxes | $21.6B | 11.2% |
| 5 | Commodities not specified according to kind | $8.8B | 4.6% |
| 6 | Pharmaceutical Products | $6.5B | 3.3% |
| 7 | Fish and Crustaceans, Molluscs and other Aquatic Invertebrates | $6.1B | 3.2% |
| 8 | Plastics and Articles thereof | $5.8B | 3.0% |
| 9 | Iron and Steel | $5.0B | 2.6% |
| 10 | Optical, Photographic, Cinematographic, Measuring, Checking, Precision, Medical or Surgical Instruments and Apparatus; Parts and Accessories thereof | $4.9B | 2.5% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
Import Value Pulled Back in 2023 After a Record 2022
Sweden imported $193.24 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 4.8% from $203.00 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.
Import value stood at $158.96 billion in 2019. It fell to $149.44 billion in 2020, the low point of this five-year window. It then climbed for two consecutive years in a row, reaching $187.32 billion in 2021 and $203.00 billion in 2022, the high point of this five-year window, before easing back to $193.24 billion in 2023. That two-year climb from the 2020 low to the 2022 peak was the single largest move anywhere in this five-year window. It dwarfed both the initial dip and the pullback that followed it.
This dataset does not explain the 2020 dip or the two-year climb that followed. Import value in 2023 nonetheless remained well above every year in this window before 2022. A decline of 4.8%, arriving right after the strongest two-year run in this five-year period, describes a partial cooling rather than a sustained slide. The five-year pattern traces a dip, a steep two-year climb, and then a pullback. That shape closely mirrors what shows up on the export side of trade for this economy over the same stretch. The export side landed almost perfectly flat in 2023, though, while the import side pulled back more noticeably.
Electronics, Machinery, Vehicles and Fuel Cluster Near the Top
Electrical machinery and equipment led every import category in 2023, worth $24.50 billion, or 12.7% of the total, narrowly ahead of machinery and mechanical appliances at 12.4%, worth $24.01 billion. Vehicles followed closely at 11.5%, worth $22.17 billion, and mineral fuels rounded out a top four at 11.2%, worth $21.59 billion.
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, contributed 4.6%, worth $8.83 billion. Pharmaceutical products added 3.3% ($6.46 billion), and fish and crustaceans contributed 3.2% ($6.11 billion). The gap down from fourth place to this fifth-ranked category is the sharpest single drop-off anywhere on this list, separating the four largest categories from a longer, flatter tail beneath them.
Plastics added 3.0% ($5.75 billion), and iron and steel contributed 2.6% ($5.03 billion). Optical, photographic and medical instruments closed out the top ten at 2.5%, worth $4.86 billion, the smallest share among the ten categories listed here. The top four categories here sit within a percentage point and a half of each other, a far tighter cluster at the top than seen in many other economies covered in this dataset. Electronics, machinery, vehicles and fuel together describe an import base built around industrial inputs and energy rather than a single standout category. That top-four cluster echoes the same shape seen among this country's top export categories, where machinery and vehicles also sit close together near the top of the list.
Germany Leads a Partner List Anchored in Northern Europe
Germany was Sweden's largest import partner in 2023, taking 16.7% of imports, worth $32.20 billion. Germany is described as Europe's largest economy and Sweden's most important trading partner, a relationship reflected here just as it is on the export side of trade for this economy. Netherlands ranked second at 10.9%, worth $21.00 billion, and Norway followed closely at 10.3%, worth $19.93 billion. Together, these top three partners accounted for 37.8% of total import value.
Denmark contributed 6.4% ($12.31 billion), and China added 5.7% ($11.05 billion), the only partner from outside Europe to crack the top five. Belgium followed at 5.0% ($9.72 billion), and Finland added 4.6% ($8.85 billion).
Poland contributed 4.4% ($8.53 billion), and France added 3.7% ($7.17 billion). United States closed out the top ten at 3.7% ($7.16 billion), the smallest share among the ten partners listed here, trailing France by a razor-thin margin of less than ten million dollars. Nine of these ten partners sit within Europe, echoing the same regional concentration seen among this country's top export destinations.
Taken together, this dataset's most recent confirmed year describes an import profile built around electronics, machinery, vehicles and fuel. That profile is sourced from a partner base still led by Germany and anchored overwhelmingly in Northern and Western Europe, much like the export side of trade for this country.