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New Zealand and Sweden have a tradition of friendly and cooperative relations, a history reflected in New Zealand's decision to open an Embassy in Stockholm from 7 July 2008. New Zealand and Sweden have similar outlooks on many international issues and cooperate closely in the multilateral arena. A Working Holiday Scheme has been operational since July 2001, enabling 18-30 year old Swedish and New Zealand nationals to work for up to a year in the other country. Tourist interest from Sweden is also strong, with approximately 12,000 Swedes visiting New Zealand each year. There is also a small but growing number of Swedes coming to New Zealand for education, primarily as part of student exchanges. New Zealand and Sweden also share a commonality of interest on trade policy, where Sweden has been a consistent supporter of liberalisation of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. An Air Services Agreement with Sweden and the other countries ( Norway, Denmark) was signed in February 2001.top of page
Land Area - 450,000 sq km, of which 9% water, 10% agricultural, and 58% forest Population - 9.18 million - Capital City - Stockholm - Language - Swedish. Finnish and Sami are used by minorities in the north
Political system - Constitutional monarchy, 4 year term of government - National government – Alliance for Sweden (Moderate, Centre, Liberal and Christian Democrat parties)- National legislature - Riksdag (unicameral) - Last election - September 2006 - Next election due - September 2010 - Head of State - His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf - Head of Government – Mr Fredrik Reinfeldt, Prime Minister
GDP - US$530.5 bn - Real GDP growth - 1.9% - Exports - US$203.1 bn - Imports - US$184.2 bn - Current account balance - US$38.6bn - Inflation - 3.4% - Unemployment - 6.1%
New Zealand Trade (to year ended December 2007) - NZ Exports (FOB) – NZ$73 million – Main Exports – sheep meat, venison, aircraft, wine, fish fillets – NZ Imports (CIF) – NZ$339 million – Main Imports – medicaments, motor vehicles, trucks and vans, chassis, bulldozers top of page
*For the memorial service for Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh.
The Safetravel website provides a travel advisory for travellers to Sweden [external link].
