Sweden in the EU: what does it cost and what do we get?
Short answer: Sweden paid SEK 45.7 billion in fees to the EU in 2025, about 3 percent of central government spending. Some of it comes back: in 2024 the EU paid out EUR 2.2 billion in Sweden, mostly farm support and research money, against a fee of EUR 3.7 billion. The net, EUR 1.5 billion or 0.26 percent of GNI, makes Sweden one of the largest net contributors per inhabitant. At the same time 55 percent of goods exports go to other EU countries. Swedes voted yes to the EU in 1994 and no to the euro in 2003, and today 62 percent support membership.
More on the site: State budget shows the fee among the state's other spending, Sweden in the world how Sweden compares with other countries, Social assistance how much of the aid frame EU aid takes, Agriculture and food agricultural support from the EU, Trade, exports and imports EU trade agreements and tariffs, Forests and the forest industry EU forest rules, Investment protection and ISDS why the EU left the Energy Charter Treaty and The parties' decisions how the parties have voted.
What Sweden pays to the EU, in kronor since 1997.
The fee is its own expenditure area in the state budget, number 27. It consists mostly of a contribution based on the size of Sweden's gross national income (GNI), a share of VAT and a levy on plastic that is not recycled. Sweden gets a rebate of about one billion euros a year in the budget period 2021 to 2027. Customs duties collected at the EU border are not counted here. The fee has more than doubled since 1997, partly because the EU got a new long-term budget in 2021 and because the United Kingdom left the union.
| Year | Fee, SEK billion |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 20.2 |
| 2000 | 22.3 |
| 2005 | 25.6 |
| 2010 | 30.4 |
| 2015 | 44.2 |
| 2020 | 47.2 |
| 2021 | 52.3 |
| 2022 | 48.2 |
| 2023 | 43.6 |
| 2024 | 41.2 |
| 2025 | 45.7 |
State budget outturn for expenditure area 27, Contribution to the European Union, current prices. Statskontoret (formerly the Swedish National Financial Management Authority, ESV). All years are on State budget.
The fee, the money back and the net.
Every year the European Commission reports how much each country paid and how much the EU paid out in that country. The payments go not only to the state but also to farmers, universities, companies and municipalities. That is why more comes back in the Commission's figures than in the state budget.
| Year | Fee | Back | Net | Net, share of GNI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 4,294 | 1,691 | 2,603 | 0.59 % |
| 2015 | 4,019 | 1,468 | 2,552 | 0.56 % |
| 2016 | 3,190 | 1,712 | 1,478 | 0.32 % |
| 2017 | 3,155 | 1,504 | 1,651 | 0.34 % |
| 2018 | 3,798 | 1,812 | 1,986 | 0.42 % |
| 2019 | 3,562 | 1,705 | 1,856 | 0.38 % |
| 2020 | 4,580 | 2,191 | 2,389 | 0.49 % |
| 2021 | 5,069 | 2,108 | 2,961 | 0.54 % |
| 2022 | 4,431 | 2,298 | 2,133 | 0.37 % |
| 2023 | 3,811 | 2,334 | 1,477 | 0.26 % |
| 2024 | 3,718 | 2,217 | 1,502 | 0.26 % |
| 2025 | 4,119 | 3,410 | 709 | 0.11 % |
EUR million in current prices. The fee is the own resources from GNI, VAT and plastic with adjustments, excluding customs duties. Back is everything the EU paid out in Sweden, including the recovery fund. In 2025 it rose to EUR 3.4 billion when Sweden received 1.4 billion from the post-pandemic recovery fund. Calculated by us from the European Commission's table of spending and revenue 2000 to 2025.
What the EU paid out in Sweden in 2024.
Agriculture gets the most. Direct payments to farmers go through the Swedish Board of Agriculture, and the rural development programme pays, among other things, environmental payments to farmers. Universities and companies compete for research money from Horizon Europe with the rest of Europe. The regional fund and the social fund pay for projects for business and for getting more people into work.
- Agriculture, direct payments704
- Research, Horizon Europe335
- Recovery fund208
- Rural development programme198
- Social fund111
- Regional fund104
- Erasmus+81
EUR million, 2024. The rest of the 2,217 million is smaller programmes, for migration, defence, transport and space among others. European Commission, table of spending and revenue.
The net contributors in 2024, as a share of GNI.
Six countries paid clearly more than they got back in 2024. Measured against the size of the economy, Sweden was second highest, after the Netherlands. Germany pays the most in euros but less as a share of its economy. Finland roughly broke even and France got a little more than it paid. Latvia, Estonia and Croatia got the most: Latvia got back 3.4 percent of its GNI more than it paid.
- Netherlands0.27 %
- Sweden0.26 %
- Ireland0.23 %
- Austria0.22 %
- Denmark0.11 %
- Germany0.08 %
Fee minus everything the EU paid out in the country, as a share of the country's GNI in 2024, calculated by us from the European Commission's table. Belgium and Luxembourg appear to receive a lot because the EU's own institutions and salaries are there; the Commission's official net measure leaves out administration and so gives slightly different figures.
More than half of exports go to the EU.
Within the EU's single market, goods, services, capital and people can move without customs duties and largely under the same rules. In 2023, 55 percent of Sweden's goods exports, SEK 1,156 billion, went to other EU countries. Germany is the largest buyer. Norway, which is outside the EU but part of the single market through the EEA agreement, is second.
| Country | Share of goods exports |
|---|---|
| Whole EU | 55 % |
| Germany | 11 % |
| Norway | 9 % |
| USA | 9 % |
| Denmark | 7 % |
| Finland | 7 % |
| United Kingdom | 5 % |
Statistics Sweden, Trade has become more important for goods exports. Goods only; service exports are not counted.
Who decides what.
The EU may only decide on what the member states have given it the right to in the treaties. Decisions are taken by ministers in the Council and by the European Parliament, on proposals from the Commission. Everything else is decided by the Riksdag and the government, the regions and the municipalities.
Only the EU: customs and trade agreements
The customs union, trade agreements with other countries, competition rules for the single market and how much fish may be caught at sea. Sweden does not negotiate its own trade agreements.
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Article 3.
Shared: where most rules come from
The single market, agriculture, the environment, consumer protection, transport, energy, and asylum and borders. Here Sweden may make its own laws only as long as the EU has not, and EU rules take precedence over Swedish ones.
Article 4.
The EU supports: health, education and culture
The EU may fund and coordinate, for example through Erasmus+, but not take over legislation.
Article 6.
Still in Stockholm
Income tax, schools, healthcare, pensions, social insurance, the police and defence. Since Sweden does not use the euro, the Riksbank sets the interest rate. Foreign and defence policy is coordinated in the EU but requires all countries to agree.
Article 5 and the Treaty on European Union, Articles 24 and 31.
Yes to the EU in 1994, no to the euro in 2003.
On 13 November 1994 a narrow majority voted for Sweden to join the EU, and Sweden became a member on 1 January 1995. On 14 September 2003 a clear majority voted against replacing the krona with the euro. Both referendums were advisory, but the Riksdag followed the result. How the parties have voted on EU questions in the Riksdag is on The parties' decisions.
| Referendum | Yes | No | Blank | Voter turnout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EU membership 1994 | 52.3 % | 46.8 % | 0.9 % | 83.3 % |
| The euro 2003 | 42.0 % | 55.9 % | 2.1 % | 82.6 % |
What Swedes think of membership.
Every autumn since 1991, the SOM Institute at the University of Gothenburg has asked Swedes what they think of membership. Support has risen most in times of worry in the world and fallen when the EU has had economic crises.
2024: 62 percent for, 13 percent against
As many as the year before were mainly for membership. 25 percent had no firm opinion.
The SOM survey 2024, in Sieps Mellan tvivel och entusiasm (2025:7epa).
2022: a record after the invasion of Ukraine
Support rose to 68 percent and opposition fell to 11 percent, the highest support the SOM Institute has measured.
Same source.
2014 to 2021: between 50 and 60 percent
In the hardest years of the euro crisis, 2010 and 2013, support fell by ten percentage points. It rose again after the Brexit referendum in 2016 and when the United States imposed tariffs on EU goods in 2018.
Same source.
The euro: 32 percent for in 2024
That is the highest since 2009. 41 percent were against and 27 percent were neither. In 2012, in the middle of the euro crisis, only 9 percent were for.
Sieps, Förnyad glöd i eurofrågan (2025:11epa).
Where the figures come from.
- The fee in kronor: state budget outturn for expenditure area 27, Statskontoret (formerly ESV).
- Gross, net and payments: European Commission, EU spending and revenue 2000 to 2025, retrieved in October 2026. The net and the share of GNI are calculated by us.
- Exports: Statistics Sweden, foreign trade in goods 2023.
- Competences: Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Articles 3 to 6.
- Referendums: Swedish Election Authority.
- Opinion: the SOM Institute at the University of Gothenburg, reported by Sieps in 2025.
The figures were transferred by hand from the sources in autumn 2026. Kronor and euros cannot be compared directly: the state budget counts only what passes through the state, the Commission everything paid out in the country.