Sweden

Sweden: Low Debt, High Governance Scores, Small Active Force

Sweden's economy was valued at $603.7 billion in 2024, per the World Bank's WDI data, with GDP per capita of $57,117 and a population of 10.6 million, both for the same year. The IMF's WEO projects government debt at 36.7% of GDP in 2026, the lowest debt projection among the countries reviewed in this batch.

Military and Fiscal Position

SIPRI's 2025 figures put Swedish military expenditure at $16.5 billion, or 2.471% of GDP under SIPRI's own GDP series; this share is not comparable to a ratio computed against the World Bank GDP figure cited above, as the two series are distinct. The IMF's IFS data show reserves of $57.5 billion in 2025.

The COW NMC dataset lists 15,000 active personnel in 2022, the smallest active force among this batch of countries, with a CINC score of 0.0019 for the same year.

Governance

V-Dem's 2025 (v15) data give Sweden an electoral democracy score of 0.889, a liberal democracy score of 0.853, and a state capacity score of 0.989 — all among the highest readings in this batch.

Energy

Per Our World in Data, Sweden's primary energy consumption was 2.196 exajoules in 2024, with 170.71 terawatt-hours of electricity generated in 2025. Oil and gas production are both listed at 0.0 TWh, dated 2016 — a figure that is nearly a decade old and should not be read as describing current domestic production, though it is consistent with Sweden's long-standing lack of significant domestic oil and gas output.

Summary

The figures together describe a small, wealthy, institutionally strong state. Sweden's $57,117 GDP per capita and 0.989 state-capacity score, per the World Bank and V-Dem respectively, sit near the top of this batch, while its active personnel count of 15,000 is the smallest recorded here, per COW NMC's 2022 data. That combination — high governance and income scores alongside the lowest raw force size — illustrates that COW's CINC score of 0.0019 and V-Dem's capacity measure are capturing different things: one a narrow count of uniformed personnel, the other a broader assessment of state institutions. SIPRI's 2.471% milex-to-GDP share, computed on SIPRI's own GDP series, indicates spending that is proportionally higher than the personnel count alone would suggest, pointing to a force that is comparatively capital- rather than manpower-intensive on these figures.

Sources: World Bank WDI; IMF WEO; IMF IFS; SIPRI Milex; COW NMC; V-Dem v15; Our World in Data (Energy).