Sweden‘s public finances recorded a deficit of SEK 96 billion in 2024, equivalent to 1.5% of GDP, new data from Statistics Sweden (SCB) has found.
Public finances deteriorated by around SEK 48 billion last year, compared to the previous year.
Both central and local governments reported a deficit last year, SCB added, with the central government reporting a deteriorated net lending/net borrowing compared to the previous year. Social security funds reported a surplus, however.
Consolidated gross debt
Sweden’s consolidated gross debt increased last year, rising by SEK 225 billion to SEK 2,190 billion, which corresponds to 34% of GDP, compared to 31.6% of GDP the previous year.
In 2022, consolidated gross debt stood at 33.8% of GDP, while in 2021, it was 36.9%.
Despite this increase, Sweden still remains well within the EU’s ‘convergence criteria’, which requires government debt to remain below 60% of GDP.
Elsewhere, the central government’s consolidated gross debt increased by SEK 105 billion last year, bringing the total to SEK 1,287 billion at the end of the year, Statistics Sweden noted.
Sweden’s GDP at current prices grew by SEK 235 billion in 2024, which contributed to keeping the debt-to-GDP ratio within EU limits. The reported deficit reflects changes in public sector revenues and expenditures, including new taxes and updated data sources that have led to revisions in figures from 2021 onwards. Read more here.
Labour market decline
Previous data from Statistics Sweden found that the country’s labour market reported rising unemployment and a decline in overall employment last year. As of 2024, the number of employed persons aged 15–74 decreased by 29,000 compared to 2023, reaching a total of 5.2 million. Elsewhere, the employment rate fell by 0.4 percentage points to 69% last year, while the number in temporary employment decreased by 62,000.
“In 2024, the labour market weakened, marked by rising unemployment and declining overall employment,” Philip Krantz, statistician at Statistics Sweden, commented in February.
