Swedish health care
The Swedish healthcare system gives everyone who lives or works in Sweden equal access to heavily subsidized healthcare. The system is taxpayer-funded and largely decentralized, and performs well in comparison with other countries at a similar level of development. Medical results are good relative to investments and despite funding restrictions.
Life expectancy in Sweden continues to rise. In 2010, it was 79,1 years for men and 83.2 years for women. More than 5 percent of the Swedish population are aged 80 or over, which is a large proportion compared to rest of the EU member states. This can be partly attributed to falling mortality risks for both heart attacks and strokes. However, the number of children born in Sweden has been increasing steadily since the end of the 1990s, a shift that will reduce the relative proportion of elderly residents.
Chronic diseases requiring monitoring and treatment — and often life-long medication — place great demands on the health care system. Sweden has relatively few smokers: almost 85 percent of Swedes don’t smoke.
FACT SHEET
Everyone in Sweden has equal access to health care services under a largely decentralized, taxpayer-funded system. Like many other countries, Sweden faces numerous challenges, such as funding, quality and efficiency of its health care services.