Corruption and procurement: how clean is Sweden?
Short answer: Sweden is still among the countries where the least corruption is perceived, but its lead has narrowed. In Transparency International's index Sweden fell from 89 points in 2015 to 80 points in 2025 and now ranks 6, behind Denmark and Finland among others. The police received 99 corruption cases in the latest year, and two thirds of them concerned the public sector, mainly municipalities. The public sector buys goods and services for around 1,000 billion kronor a year, close to a fifth of GDP, and roughly one procurement in five receives only one bid. The hidden figure is large: few bribery offences are reported, and even fewer lead to prosecution.
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How corrupt the public sector is perceived to be, Sweden against its neighbours since 2012.
Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, 0 to 100 points, where 100 is entirely free of corruption. The index combines assessments from about eight sources, including surveys of business leaders and analysts, and so measures how corruption is perceived, not how many crimes are committed. Western Europe and EU is an unweighted average of the region's 31 countries, reported from 2016. Differences of one or two points between two years lie within the margin of error.
According to Transparency International, Sweden's decline since 2015 is statistically significant. The same trend shows in Eurobarometer: the share of Swedes who believe corruption exists in municipalities and regions rose from 51 percent in 2022 to 71 percent in 2026, close to the EU average of 74 percent.
Reported bribery offences, police corruption cases and prosecutions.
Reported offences from Brå table 10, taking and giving bribes including aggravated offences. Police cases are those received by the police national anti-corruption unit, NKIG, in the twelve months to 1 November. Prosecutions from Brå table 40G: convictions, summary fines and waivers of prosecution where bribery was the most serious offence. Anyone convicted of bribery together with a more serious offence is not counted, so prosecutions are an underestimate. A single large case can produce hundreds of reported offences, which is why the curves jump between years.
The police situation report for 2025 is based on 99 cases. Just over two thirds concerned the public sector: half municipalities, almost as many government agencies and a few regions. Procurement or the exercise of public authority featured in about 40 percent of cases, and the bribe was usually money. During the year charges were brought in 19 cases, and of 30 judgments 29 were convictions. The police describe corruption as more professional and systematic than before, with criminal networks seeking out employees who have access to registers, decisions or money.
Brå's survey of elected representatives shows that about 3 percent of politicians were subject to an attempt at corruption in 2025, roughly as many as in 2012. The most common form is cronyism, favouring someone you know, rather than cash bribes.
What central government, regions and municipalities procure each year.
Purchases subject to procurement rules in billions of kronor at current prices, from the National Agency for Public Procurement's statistics. These are purchases that by law must be put out to competitive tender, covering goods, services and construction works, by government agencies, regions, municipalities and their companies. Data: National Agency for Public Procurement. Processing: MapAndMove.
Procurement is the part of the public economy where the corruption risk is greatest, according to both the police and the Swedish Agency for Public Management, because large sums and few decision makers meet. The Public Procurement Act requires all suppliers to be treated equally and decisions to be open to review afterwards. The National Agency for Public Procurement collects data on advertised procurements in a national database.
How often only one supplier submits a bid.
Share of advertised procurements with only one bid, in percent, from the National Agency for Public Procurement's statistics on advertised procurements. Up to 2020 bidders were counted from the Mercell tender database, from 2021 bids from the agency's own database. The series therefore has a break between 2020 and 2021.
| Only one bid, by sector | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|
Share of procurements with one bid by buyer, from the National Agency for Public Procurement.
| Only one bidder, the EU measure | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|
The EU Single Market Scoreboard, procurements above the EU thresholds advertised in TED. EU is the median member state, not an average. Sweden's jump in 2024 coincides with notices moving to a new format, eForms, and may partly be a change of measurement.
Only one supplier bidding is not in itself a sign of corruption. It can be due to a narrow market, short deadlines or requirements few can meet. But the EU and the OECD use the measure as a warning sign, since a procurement without competition is easier to steer towards a particular supplier and can become more expensive. In Sweden the share is highest among government agencies and regions and lowest among municipalities, and Sweden long stayed well below the EU median.
Where the risks are in municipalities and regions, and what the conflict of interest rules say.
Friendship more often than money
The Swedish Agency for Public Management's review from 2023 found few signs that corruption in municipalities and regions is decreasing. Cronyism and nepotism, hiring or buying from relatives and acquaintances, appear more common than cash bribes. Most exposed are procurement, technical management and planning and building permit matters. The hidden figure is judged to be larger than in central government, and many municipalities do not analyse their corruption risks or train their staff about them.
Swedish Agency for Public Management, New challenges and old problems, 2023:13
Municipalities seldom report themselves
Of the 39 reports to the police concerning municipalities and regions in 2025, only 14 came from the municipalities and regions themselves. Government agencies are obliged to report employees suspected of offences in the course of duty, but municipalities and regions have no such obligation. In June 2026 the government proposed that it should apply to them too from 1 July 2027.
Police, Corruption in Sweden 2025; the government's proposal on a duty to report
Conflicts of interest in the committees
The Local Government Act says that anyone with a conflict of interest may not take part in or be present at a matter, and must declare the conflict themselves. A conflict exists among other things when the matter concerns oneself or a close relative, when one represents someone affected, when one has already handled the matter in another body, and when something else may undermine confidence in one's impartiality. The rules apply to elected representatives and employees in the committees.
Local Government Act (2017:725), chapter 6, sections 28 to 32
Incorrect payments and infiltration.
The government estimates that around 15 to 20 billion kronor were paid out incorrectly from the welfare systems in 2021, through fraud, mistakes and organised crime. The figure is based on the agencies' older studies, and a new survey is due on 1 March 2027. Since January 2024 the Swedish Payments Authority has matched data from several agencies to find payments that do not add up.
Infiltration is when criminals gain influence from within, through employees, companies that win procurements or grants to operations that do not exist. The police describe how criminal networks increasingly systematically seek out employees with access to registers, decisions and money. How welfare crime and the criminal networks' finances connect is shown on Organised crime.
Government, assignment to survey incorrect payments, December 2024; about the Swedish Payments Authority, November 2023.
What the whistleblower act requires of employers.
The whistleblower act has applied since 17 December 2021 and is based on an EU directive. It protects those who report wrongdoing at work against retaliation, such as dismissal or worse duties. Employers with at least 50 employees must have internal channels where staff can raise the alarm, and procedures for following up reports. The requirement has applied since July 2022 to public employers and large companies, and since December 2023 also to private companies with 50 to 249 employees, which may share a channel. Anyone who does not want to report internally can turn to one of the agencies that have external channels.
Act (2021:890) on the protection of persons reporting wrongdoing, chapter 5 and the transitional provisions.
What has changed, and what the Council of Europe and the OECD point out.
The action plan 2024 to 2027
In July 2024 the government adopted an action plan against corruption and undue influence, with seven areas: among them criminal law, transparency on conflicts of interest, municipalities and regions, public procurement and cooperation between agencies. Since then the Swedish Agency for Public Management has led a forum where the agencies coordinate the work.
Government, New action plan against corruption and undue influence, 5 July 2024
Abuse of public position
From 1 August 2026 it is an offence to abuse one's public position to benefit or harm someone, even when a bribe cannot be proven. The penalty is a fine or imprisonment for at most two years, and for an aggravated offence imprisonment for one and a half to six years. The minimum penalty for gross misconduct in office was raised at the same time. Parliament passed the law in June 2026 by 174 votes to 172 on the question of the new offence.
The Riksdag, committee report 2025/26:JuU40, bill 2025/26:217
The Council of Europe's GRECO
The Council of Europe's anti-corruption body reviewed how Sweden prevents corruption among ministers, senior officials and the police. In March 2025 GRECO found that 11 of 15 recommendations had been implemented, one partly and three not at all: clearer transparency in lobbyists' contacts with the government, a statutory duty for top officials to declare debts and previous positions, and supervision with sanctions for them. The police part was fully met.
GRECO, fifth evaluation round, addendum to the second compliance report, 2025
The OECD on bribery abroad
The OECD Working Group on Bribery found in December 2024 that Sweden does too little to prosecute companies that bribe in other countries, and that few cases lead to penalties for the companies. Sweden is to report on what has been done in December 2026. The criticism has been made before, in 2012 and 2017.
OECD, Phase 4 Report on Sweden, 2024
What the parties have proposed in parliament.
| Party | Proposals and position, parliamentary session 2025/26 | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Social Democrats | Wanted to reject the new offence of abuse of public position. Wants procurements reviewed with invoice data and AI to find anomalies, and wants a lobby register. | 2025/26:4099, 3557, 2751 |
| Moderates | Governing party, behind the action plan and the new law. One member wants to investigate whether municipal auditing can be made less political. | 2025/26:1760 |
| Sweden Democrats | Voted for the new law. Members want to consider an anti-corruption agency under parliament and measures against cronyism in municipalities and regions. | 2025/26:100, 247 |
| Left Party | Wanted to reject the whole bill. Wants more checks and greater openness when the public sector procures and sells common property. | 2025/26:4107 |
| Centre Party | Wanted to reject the new offence. Wants to give municipalities and regions more support against corruption and infiltration and tougher penalties for corruption offences. | 2025/26:4112, 3581 |
| Christian Democrats | Governing party, behind the action plan and the new law. No motions of its own on corruption in Sweden during the session. | Parliament documents |
| Liberals | Governing party, behind the new law. One member wants to investigate an independent anti-corruption agency for municipalities and regions. | 2025/26:2663 |
| Green Party | Wanted to reject the whole bill and instead invest in prevention, better control and stronger protection against undue influence. | 2025/26:4116 |
A selection of motions on corruption during the parliamentary session 2025/26, from parliament's open data, not the parties' full programmes. A proposal in an individual motion is the member's, not necessarily the party's.
Where the figures come from.
- Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2025 (CC BY-ND 4.0): scores and ranks 2012 to 2025, unchanged.
- Brå, reported crime and persons prosecuted for offences: bribery offences 2016 to 2025.
- Swedish Police, Corruption in Sweden 2025 and the Swedish Agency for Public Management's summary: police cases, Eurobarometer and Brå's survey of politicians.
- National Agency for Public Procurement, purchases subject to procurement and statistics on advertised procurements, retrieved 2026-10-29.
- EU Single Market Scoreboard (CC BY 4.0): the share with one bidder.
- Laws, proposals and reviews: those linked in each section above.
The corruption index comes from Transparency International's file.