An economic and political system whose stability has been weakened
Sweden is a parliamentary monarchy. King Charles XVI Gustav, heir to the Bernadotte family, has been sovereign since 1973. His role, which is not political, is defined by the Constitution of1 January 1975 and is limited to symbolic representative functions. Political power rests with the government, whose head, the Prime Minister(Statsminister), is appointed by the Parliament(Riksdag) in general elections held every four years. Since October 2022, and after two Social Democratic mandates, Ulf Kristersson, leader of the Moderate party, has led a coalition government between the right-wing parties (Moderate, Christian Democrats, Liberals), with the support of the far-right Sweden Democrats in Parliament.
On the economic side, despite a relatively low population density (10.5 million in 2023), Sweden has an exceptionally diversified economy. Few other countries of its size can boast their own aircraft and nuclear industries, a cutting-edge military-industrial sector, a high-tech telecommunications industry and two powerful pharmaceutical groups. Among the major Swedish companies are Asea Brown Boveri (ABB), which has been one of the world's largest electronics groups since 1988, Electrolux, a manufacturer of household appliances, as well as Volvo, Saab, Ericsson, AstraZeneca, Ikea, H&M, and the internationally successful online music platform Spotify. The country is almost self-sufficient in agricultural products and very rich in raw materials (wood, iron, lead, copper, zinc) and hydroelectric power. Fishing is traditionally very developed, especially in the Baltic, around Gothenburg, but more industrial fisheries can be found on the North Sea coast. As a percentage of GDP, Sweden ranks among the top countries in the world in the research and development sector.
However, since the fourth quarter of 2022, the country has been sinking into a worrying economic recession, notably because of the war in Ukraine, which seems to have hit Sweden harder than its European neighbors. This unstable situation is of great concern to the government.
A social system with the shadow of unemployment hanging over it
Sweden has one of the highest standards of living in the world. Nevertheless, the unemployment rate (7.2 percent) remains problematic, although it has been trending downward since 2014. Once again, young people are particularly exposed to an employment crisis. However, the employment rate of the working age population remains one of the highest in Europe (77%). In terms of education, Sweden uses very avant-garde methods based on child development. As for higher education, it is completely free, not only for Swedes, but also for European students!
The country is also at the forefront in terms of professional equality and salary, thanks to a generous childcare and parental leave system. The state provides basic pensions, family allowances, housing subsidies, sickness benefits, parental leave, unemployment, as well as social assistance for those with incomes below the poverty line. At the other end of the labour market, Sweden has adopted a points-based pension system, which is the same for everyone, following its cherished principle of equality. The state can only afford these expenses through high taxation, with Sweden's tax burden being one of the highest in the world (although lower than France's over the last ten years).
The breakdown of the system in the 1990s, linked to rising unemployment and financial difficulties, led to a crisis of the "Swedish model". The model has been questioned for the efficiency of the services provided, for their costs and for the social tensions created, particularly with regard to disadvantaged groups. However, the model still enjoys the general confidence of the Swedes, and it has been able to adapt in recent years in order to meet the demand for individualization in a society that is becoming increasingly diversified.
A real estate bubble ready to burst?
Real estate is one of the biggest risks in the country, as there is very little housing available for rent. In the capital, housing is so scarce that the state now controls the distribution of apartments, and it takes an average of nine years to obtain a rent-controlled property - and this timeframe increases to two decades in some of the most popular neighbourhoods! As a result, it is common for permanent residents of the capital to live in sublet or under-rented housing for years, a situation that is becoming increasingly untenable. The country has therefore been trying for several years to control the real estate bubble and to lower household debt, while at the same time considering the expansion of its cities and the construction of new neighbourhoods in order to accommodate a growing urban population.
Ecology, at the heart of the concerns
Sweden's economic success has been accompanied by a growing awareness of environmental issues, epitomized by the international success of the young Swedish environmentalist, Greta Thunberg. In 25 years, Sweden has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by a quarter, has the highest carbon tax in the world and wants to become the first carbon neutral nation by 2045. In addition, the country is at the forefront in terms of sorting, recycling and green energy. Energy production is almost entirely decarbonized, with hydro, nuclear and wind power. Energy is even produced from collected waste, and just from Stockholm's garbage eight million liters of fuel are produced each year - enough to allow all the capital's buses to run on biogas! The country even has an overcapacity in terms of waste incineration, so it has to import waste from neighboring countries to recycle it.
However, the country's ecological progress is limited by the affluent lifestyle of the Swedes, who consume far too much. Thus, ecological trends were born in order to impose an awareness to the citizens. Among the most famous is the " flygskam " (shame to fly), a movement that leads more and more Swedes to abandon the plane in favor of less polluting means of transportation (especially the train). More recently, the emergence of the " köpskam " (shame of shopping) is pushing Swedish society to reflect on its consumption patterns and to question the fashion industry.
Perfect society or identity tensions?
Sweden has always practiced a very liberal policy of tolerance and openness in receiving refugees. It took in 81,000 migrants in 2014 and 163,000 in 2015. If you scale these numbers to the population, it is the highest rate in the European Union. But the subject of immigration has become sensitive as integration and housing capacities have reached their limits. This has led Sweden to tighten its asylum legislation by reducing the right to family reunification and limiting the length of stay.
Social segregation is one of the major challenges facing the country, as entire populations are grouped together by origin in certain neighbourhoods and a phenomenon of ghettoization is underway, especially in the large cities. One can be surprised, for example, when walking around Stockholm, at the lack of social mix, which increases the further you go from the city center to the suburbs... Today, almost 20% of Sweden's inhabitants were born abroad, but the political system has difficulty representing and integrating them. However, it is difficult to talk about these issues in the country, because Swedes, out of national pride, find it difficult to admit that there is also racism in Sweden and that society is not as perfect as it seems. Yet the outcome of the 2022 elections, which saw the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats become the country's second largest party, is symptomatic of a growing fear among some of the population about the generosity of previous governments in terms of immigration.
The thorny issue of Sápmi territory
Since 1993, the Sami have been represented by the Sami Parliament of Sweden, a consultative assembly whose members are directly elected. However, this institution is not sufficient to ensure sovereignty over their territory for this indigenous population, and the Sami must fight in court to assert their rights over the land they have always inhabited. In 2021, a first victory was achieved in this sense, as the Swedish Supreme Court recognized the right of the inhabitants of the village of Girjas to decide who can hunt and fish on their land. This suggests a similar decision for the other twenty-five Saami villages in Sweden.
Ultimately, the Saami want to gain ownership of a portion of their ancestral territory, the Sápmi, and own this land collectively with self-sustaining sources of funding. However, this land, rich in oil, gas, mines and fish, is highly coveted, and rather than agree to give it back, Sweden would prefer to pay compensation. Also, the country has still not endorsed the convention that recognizes the right of peoples to own the lands they traditionally occupy. Social democrats or bourgeois, the parties and the media form a kind of conspiracy of silence around this issue, and if you try to talk about it with one of the country's citizens a certain discomfort sets in. This is why the Sami have taken legal action in the Stockholm and Strasbourg courts and at the Human Rights Commission in Geneva.
