Sweden Military - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Swedish Armed Forces (Forsvarsmakten): Army, Navy, Air Force, Home Guard (2022)

Military expenditures

1.3% of GDP (2021 est.)

1.2% of GDP (2020)

1.1% of GDP (2019) (approximately $6.78 billion)

1% of GDP (2018) (approximately $6.26 billion)

1% of GDP (2017) (approximately $6.04 billion)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 15,000 continuous service/full-time troops (7,000 Army; 3,000 Navy; 3,000 Air Force; 2,000 other, including staff, logistics, support, medical, cyber, intelligence, etc); approximately 21,000 Home Guard; approximately 12,000 temporary service personnel (2022)

note: Swedish Armed Forces' (SAF) personnel are divided into continuously serving (full-time) and temporary service troops (part-timers who serve periodically and have another main employer or attend school); additional personnel have signed service agreements with the SAF and mostly serve in the Home Guard; the SAF also has about 9,000 civilian employees

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the inventory of the SAF is comprised of domestically-produced and imported Western weapons systems; since 2010, the US is the leading supplier of military hardware to Sweden; Sweden's defense industry produces a range of air, land, and naval systems (2021)

Military service age and obligation

18-47 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; service obligation: 7.5 months (Army), 7-15 months (Navy), 8-12 months (Air Force); after completing initial service, soldiers have a reserve commitment until age 47; compulsory military service, abolished in 2010, was reinstated in January 2018; conscription is selective, includes both men and women (age 18), and requires 9-12 months of service (2022)

note 1: Sweden conscripts about 5,500 men and women each year

note 2: as of 2021, women made up about 11% of the military's full-time personnel

Military deployments

approximately 200 Mali (MINUSMA) (2022)

Military - note

Sweden maintains a policy of military non-alignment, but cooperates with NATO and regional countries; it joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace program in 1994 and has contributed to NATO-led missions, including those in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kosovo; Sweden applied for NATO membership in May 2022

the Swedish military cooperates closely with the military forces of other Nordic countries through the Nordic Defense Cooperation (NORDEFCO), which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden; areas of cooperation include armaments, education, human resources, training and exercises, and operations; NORDEFCO was established in 2009

Sweden is a signatory of the EU’s Common Security and Defense Policy and contributes to CSDP missions and operations (2022)

NOTE: The information regarding Sweden on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Sweden 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Sweden 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.