Agriculture and food preparedness
Short answer: Sweden produces more grain than the country eats, but only about seven tenths of its meat and milk, a fifth of its tomatoes and a third of its apples. Even that food needs imported diesel, fertiliser, feed and spare parts. Arable land has shrunk by a third since the 1920s, and there are fewer than a fifth as many farm businesses as in 1927. The state's emergency food stocks were dismantled around the turn of the century. Since 1 July 2026 there is a new law on emergency stocks in the food chain, and the state has started buying grain again. Agriculture receives about 11 billion kronor a year in support, most of it from the EU.
More on the site: Defence on emergency stocks of medicines and fuel, EU on what Sweden pays to and receives from the Union Prices on food prices since 2019 and Farmers' conditions on income, the price paid to farmers and costs.
How much of its food Sweden produces itself.
The self-sufficiency rate is production in Sweden divided by what is eaten in Sweden, as a percentage. What is eaten is counted as production plus imports minus exports. Above 100 percent means Sweden produces more of the product than the country eats and the rest is exported. Below 100 percent means some of it has to be imported.
| Vara | 2024 | 2025 | Proposal 2030 | Proposal 2035 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grain | 115 | 150 | 127 | 140 |
| Rapeseed | 85 | 93 | 98 | 110 |
| Pulses | 97 | 98 | 106 | 115 |
| Table potatoes | 92 | 90 | 96 | 100 |
| Starch potatoes | 100 | 100 | 110 | 120 |
| Sugar | 87 | 103 | 95 | 100 |
| Meat, total | 70 | 70 | 75 | 80 |
| Pork | 81 | 81 | 88 | 95 |
| Beef | 57 | 54 | 61 | 65 |
| Sheep and lambs | 25 | 23 | 28 | 30 |
| Poultry | 72 | 75 | 78 | 85 |
| Milk | 71 | 73 | 78 | 85 |
| Eggs | 87 | 97 | 96 | 105 |
| Carrots | 95 | 99 | 95 | 95 |
| Onions | 84 | 87 | 87 | 90 |
| Cabbage | 51 | 52 | 67 | 85 |
| Tomatoes | 18 | 19 | 29 | 40 |
| Apples | 30 | 31 | 39 | 50 |
Percent. From the Board of Agriculture's press release of 30 June 2026. The targets for 2030 and 2035 were proposed by the Board of Agriculture on the government's commission in October 2025; the government has not decided on them. The 2025 grain harvest was a very large one.
The measure does not say how dependent Sweden is on imports
Producing the food requires imported inputs: fuel, fertiliser, pesticides, feed, machinery and spare parts. The Board of Agriculture writes that the self-sufficiency rate would be considerably lower if these were counted. That is why the agency prefers to call the measure production capacity.
Swedish Board of Agriculture, På tal om jordbruk och fiske, June 2024
No figure for all food together
The Board of Agriculture does not calculate a total self-sufficiency rate. The products cannot be added together in a reasonable way, and some food, such as coffee and citrus fruit, cannot be grown in Sweden. Processed foods are not included, and stock changes are counted only for grain.
Swedish Board of Agriculture
Dairy has fallen the most
Counted in milk equivalents, that is with cheese, butter and other dairy products converted to milk, self-sufficiency fell from 112 percent in 1995 to 75 percent in 2023. For cheese it was 39 percent.
Swedish Board of Agriculture, På tal om jordbruk och fiske
Arable land since 1865.
Arable land grew during the 1800s as bogs were drained and forest cleared, and was at its largest in the 1920s. Since then less profitable fields in the forest regions have been planted with trees or turned into pasture, while yields per hectare have multiplied. Grain is grown on about two fifths of the arable land.
Number of farm businesses since 1927.
The series counts businesses with more than 2 hectares of arable land, the same threshold throughout. Farms have become fewer and larger: when a farm closes, the land is usually leased or bought by a neighbour.
Fields and pasture being built on.
The Board of Agriculture tracks how much farmland is taken for housing, roads, industry and other uses. From 2021 to 2025 about 1,500 hectares were developed, roughly 300 hectares a year. In each of the three five year periods before that it was about 3,000 hectares. Land for housing has fallen the most, from about 2,500 hectares to about 300, and roads now account for a large share. Most farmland is built on in Skåne and Västra Götaland. Figures per county are in the table further down.
Swedish Board of Agriculture, Exploatering av jordbruksmark 2021 to 2025, press release 1 July 2026.
Emergency stocks then and now.
The Cold War
The state held large emergency stocks of grain, other foods and inputs such as fertiliser and fuel, so that the country could cope if imports were cut off in a war.
SOU 2025:68
The dismantling
After the Cold War the stocks were judged to be no longer needed, and they were dismantled step by step during the 1990s. The ordinance on emergency stockpiling was repealed in 2002. The government writes in 2026 that the old type of stocks no longer exists today.
Gov. bill 2025/26:205, motion 2021/22:1289
Food strategy 2.0
In March 2025 the government renewed the food strategy from 2017, with three focus areas: a robust food chain, more exports, and Swedish quality and gastronomy. The overall goal is still a competitive food chain in which total production increases. The strategy has no numerical targets.
Government, 21 March 2025
A new law on emergency stocks
Parliament passed the law on emergency stockpiling in the food chain on 26 May 2026, and it has applied since 1 July 2026. The state owns the goods, and the government decides which goods, how much and where. The stocks are built up step by step. The budget for 2026 contains 575 million kronor, and the Board of Agriculture is first buying grain for stores in northern Sweden.
Gov. bill 2025/26:205, committee report 2025/26:MJU25
Who is responsible
The Swedish Food Agency is the sector agency for food supply and drinking water, the Board of Agriculture for grain and farm inputs. The Swedish Agency for Civil Defence, called MSB until 1 January 2026, coordinates civil defence. The Food Agency, the Board of Agriculture and the National Veterinary Institute are to report how the stocks will be built up by 22 February 2027.
Government, mcf.se
How well households would manage a week on the food and water at home is covered on Crisis preparedness.
Support and payments to agriculture.
Most of the support comes from the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. Sweden's strategic plan for 2023 to 2027 covers about 61 billion kronor, of which the EU pays 46 billion and Sweden 15 billion. The money comes from two funds: the agricultural guarantee fund, which pays the basic farm payment, and the agricultural fund for rural development, which among other things pays environmental payments and compensatory allowances. The figures below are EU and Swedish money together, with some purely national support.
| Support 2025 | SEK million |
|---|---|
| Basic farm payment | 4,680 |
| Compensatory allowance | 1,470 |
| Environmental payment for pastures | 1,195 |
| Cattle support | 942 |
| Organic production | 599 |
| Precision farming | 560 |
| National support for milk | 408 |
| Support for young farmers | 372 |
| Carbon sequestration | 357 |
Arable land, businesses, support and land take per county.
| County | Arable land 2003, ha | Arable land 2025, ha | Change | Businesses 2003 | Businesses 2025 | Support 2025, SEK m | Built on 2016 to 2020, ha | Built on 2021 to 2025, ha |
|---|
Businesses with arable land. Area per county is reported from 2003. Support is the sum of all forms of support in the county. Built on land is fields and pasture that have been developed.
What the parties want.
All eight parliamentary parties supported the law on emergency stocks. The differences concern how the stocks should be built up and how much production should increase. The first column summarises the parties' line in the parliamentary debate in spring 2026, the second their answers to the Federation of Swedish Farmers ahead of the 2026 election.
| Party | On emergency stocks | On production |
|---|---|---|
| Social Democrats | Yes to the law, wants clearer priorities and a plan for the build up. | Sweden needs to produce more food. |
| Moderates | Yes to the law. Stocks should go hand in hand with profitable production and simpler rules. | Efficient farms, large and small, and production where it works best. |
| Sweden Democrats | Yes to the law. Preparedness also depends on domestic production. | Increase primary production, for the sake of preparedness. |
| Centre Party | Yes to the law. | Safe food of high quality. |
| Left Party | Yes to the law, but wants to link preparedness to climate adaptation and transition. | No arable land or pasture should lie fallow. |
| Christian Democrats | Yes to the law. Wants a strong base of livestock farming and food production. | Production must increase; it is a security issue. |
| Liberals | Yes to the law. | Resilient farming is crucial for the food supply. |
| Green Party | Yes to the law, but wants to link it to climate adaptation and sustainability. | Profitable and viable farming across the whole country. |
Riksdag, committee report 2025/26:MJU25 with reservations and special statements, decision 26 May 2026, and motion 2025/26:4069 (MP). Federation of Swedish Farmers, Valet 2026: Partierna om maten, marken och makten, updated 11 May 2026.
Where the figures come from.
- Arable land, businesses, counties and support: the Swedish Board of Agriculture's statistical database, the long time series tables (arable land and businesses), farm businesses per county, and support and payments per county and form of support. Official statistics.
- Self-sufficiency: the Board of Agriculture's press release of 30 June 2026 and the report På tal om jordbruk och fiske, June 2024.
- Land take: the Board of Agriculture's press release of 1 July 2026 and the report Exploatering av jordbruksmark 2021 to 2025.
- Emergency stocks: gov. bill 2025/26:205, committee report 2025/26:MJU25, SOU 2025:68, the government's budget bill for 2026 and the Swedish Agency for Civil Defence.
- Food strategy: the government's press release of 21 March 2025. EU agricultural policy: the Board of Agriculture on the strategic plan 2023 to 2027.
- Parties: the Riksdag's committee report 2025/26:MJU25 and the Federation of Swedish Farmers, Valet 2026.
The series were retrieved in October 2026. Land development per county and other figures are transferred by hand from the sources in autumn 2026.