Kingdom of Sweden

Bilateral relationship

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.

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Key facts

Geography/Demographics

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

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

Economic (2008)

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

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

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Visits

New Zealand Ministerial Visits to Sweden

• Rt Hon Winston Peters, Minister of Foreign Affairs, October 2007
• Hon Harry Duyhoven, Minister of Transport Safety, July 2005
• Hon Phil Goff, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, September 2003*
• Hon Pete Hodgson, Minister for Research, Science and Technology, June 2003
• Hon Jim Anderton, Minister for Economic Development, April 2003
• Hon George Hawkins, Minister of Internal Affairs, January 2003
• Hon Annette King, Minister of Health, May 2002 and January 2003
• Rt Hon Helen Clark, Prime Minister, February 2002
• Hon Phil Goff, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, April 2001
• Hon Marian Hobbs, Minister for the Environment, June 2000
• Hon Roger Sowry, Minister of Social Welfare, June 1998
• Rt Hon Don McKinnon, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, March 1996

Swedish Ministerial Visits to New Zealand

• Göran Persson, Prime Minister, February 2005
• Kjell Larsson, Minister for the Environment, January 1999
• Mai-Inger Klingvall, Minister of Social Security, October 1997
• Mai-Inger Klingvall, Minister of Agriculture, 1993
• Mai-Inger Klingvall, Minister of Defence, 1993

*For the memorial service for Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh.

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Representation

• New Zealand opened an Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden [external link] on 7 July 2008.
• The Embassy of Sweden in Canberra, Australia, is accredited to New Zealand.

Travel advice

The Safetravel website provides a travel advisory for travellers to Sweden [external link].

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