Sweden
Population | 9.2 m |
Capital | Stockholm |
Surface area | 410,300 km2 |
Official Languages | None (Swedish de facto) |
Gross domestic product (GDP) (in euros) | 262.1 bn |
GDP as a % of EU-27, based on 2009 data | 2.4 |
GDP per capita by purchasing power standards (indexed to EU average of 100) | 121.0 |
Currency | Krona (SEK) |
Human development index (HDI), an index based on life expectancy, education and GDP (max. 1) | 0.956 |
World rank in HDI | 6/177 |
Key economic sectors (% of GDP in 2002) | Services (70.0); industry (28.2); agriculture (1.8) |
Leading companies | Hennes and Mauritz (clothing company); Nordea Bank AB; TeliaSonera (mobile telephone company) |
Unemployment in February 2010 | 9.0% (source: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table) |
Main religious denominations (numbers in millions) | Church of Sweden (7.7); Muslim (0.25) |
Significant minority ethnic groups | Sami (Lapps) |
Political system | Constitutional monarchy. A single-chamber Riksdag is elected every four years. |
Electoral system | Proportional representation, with all parties receiving at least 4% of the vote guaranteed absolute proportionality. Any party not receiving 4% of the vote nationally but 12% within a constituency is also guaranteed representation. |
Current (March 2010) leaders | Prime minister: John Frederik Reinfeldt (b. 1965), since October 2006 |
Previous leaders: | Prime ministers: Göran Persson (1996-2006); Ingvar Gösta Carlsson (1994-96); Carl Bildt (1991-94) |
Joined the EU/EC | 1995 |
Commissioner from country in Barroso II College of Commissioners, and portfolio | Cecilia Malmström (Home Affairs) |
Number of MEPs | 20/754 |
Turnout in 2009 EP elections (%) | 45.5 |
Member of eurozone | No |
Except where a specific reference is inserted, the sources for this profile are either Neill Nugent’s book itself, or Barry Turner (ed.), The Statesman’s Yearbook Online, Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan. If your library subscribes, you can gain access at
http://www.statesmansyearbook.com