Budget Toolkit: Sweden

The OECD collects and publishes granular data on DAC donors' ODA. While this data, featured in our Donor Tracker Profiles, provides the most comprehensive view of donor government ODA spending and is crucial for accountability and transparency, it provides only a past perspective. The time taken to collect and verify the information means that preliminary data are published about 3 months after the calendar year ends, and the complete and detailed data on resource flows take more than 12 months to be published.

To get a more up-to-date view on donors’ future plans and to influence ODA budgetary decisions, advocates need to look to donor budgets and their surrounding decision-making processes for insight. The majority of donors publish draft budgets and conduct negotiations in the last quarter of the calendar year before finalizing the next year’s budget. Through this series of Donor Budget Toolkits, the Donor Tracker aims to support advocates in better understanding donor budget timelines, how they translate to ODA spending, and how decision-making processes work, so they can best advocate for development cooperation in donor budgets negotiations. The series will be released over the upcoming months, in line with ongoing budget negotiations in markets tracked by the Donor Tracker.

ODA volume

How much ODA does Sweden contribute?

Sweden was the 8^th largest OECD DAC donor in 2021. OECD 2022 preliminary figures show Sweden as the 9^th largest DAC donor that year.

Sweden is the third-largest donor relative to its economy: the country spent 0.92% of its GNI on ODA in 2021. According to the 2022 OECD preliminary updates, it moved up to the second-largest DAC donor in relative terms, spending 0.9% of their GNI.

Sweden’s commitment to development cooperation remains one of the strongest in the world. Sweden held on to first place in the Center for Global Development’s 2021 ‘Commitment to Development Index.’

ODA sources

What are the main sources of Sweden's ODA?

The Sida and MFA budgets are covered under Budget Area 7: International Assistance and comprise approximately 80-90% of the ODA budget. In the 2023 budget, Budget Area 7 totaled SEK47.2 billion ( US$4.6 billion).

Bilateral cooperation programs are guided by regional and country strategies, which define indicative budget allocations and focus on specific geographies. These strategies are developed by the MFA, with input from Sida and the various embassies, and are approved by the government.

The remaining costs, approximately 10-20% of the ODA budget, mainly consist of assessed contributions to the EU (SEK3.4 billion, or US$336 million in 2023), in-donor refugee costs (SEK4.2 billion, or US$415 million in 2023), and MFA management costs (SEK471 million, or US$46.5 million in 2023).

ODA decision-makers

Who makes the decisions on Sweden's ODA budget?

Sweden has a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy, and its governmental structure consists of three branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

The Executive Branch:

The King: Sweden is a constitutional monarchy, and the King serves as the ceremonial head of state with no political powers. The King's role in the budget process is symbolic.

The Government: The executive power is vested in the government, which is led by the Prime Minister. The government is responsible for preparing the national budget and proposing it to the legislative branch for approval.

The Legislative Branch:

The Riksdag: The Swedish Parliament, known as the Riksdag, is the supreme legislative body. It is a unicameral legislature with 349 members who are elected through proportional representation. The Riksdag plays a crucial role in the budget process. The government prepares a budget proposal, which includes detailed estimates of government revenue and expenditures for the fiscal year. This proposal is presented to the Riksdag.

The budget must be approved by the Riksdag to become law. The Riksdag reviews, debates, and votes on the budget proposal. Amendments and changes can be made by members of Parliament before the budget is approved. The budget requires a majority vote in the Riksdag to pass.

The Judicial Branch:

Does not directly participate in the budget process.

Key Stakeholders

ODA timeline

When and how are decisions on Sweden's budget made?

The Swedish budget process runs over a two-year period. It starts in the year that precedes its implementation and continues during the current fiscal year; the ongoing budget can be amended in spring and autumn.

The Spring Amending Budget Bill may be used to divert or reallocate funds originally allotted for the current year. The ongoing budget can also be amended in September when the government presents its budget bill to parliament for the next year.

Current Budget Impact

What does the current development budget tell us about Swedish ODA?

Sweden’s right-wing government’s 2023 budget introduced a new framework with a fixed ODA amount (SEK56 billion, or US$5.5 billion, annually) set for three years (2023-2025), which is decoupled from GNI, but represents 0.88% of projected GNI.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Tobias Billström (Moderate Party) presented Sweden's Statement of Foreign Policy, which summarizes the government’s ODA priorities, to Parliament on February 15, 2023. Ukraine will remain a Swedish foreign and development policy priority. In 2023, the country is expected to become the largest recipient of Swedish bilateral development assistance. Sweden also aims to use ODA as a lever to strengthen countries’ democracy and participation in the international economy. Sweden has an ambition to make ODA more focused, relevant, effective, and transparent.

In an interview on June 6, 2023, Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell stated the government's ambition to bring increase private sector involvement in development policy. Forssell emphasized the need for a modern approach to development, where trade and assistance are seen as two sides of the same coin.

Given the right-wing government’s particular focus on immigration, development assistance policy includes counteracting irregular migration, increasing repatriation, and effectively contributing to voluntary returns. Development assistance now encompasses 'effective measures to reduce the root causes of migration'.

Next steps?

Budget Negotiations

On September 20, 2023, the Swedish government presented its 2024 budget proposal to Parliament, which showed an approximately SEK56 billion ( US$5.5 billion) allocation to ODA, in line with 2023 spending. Additional costs covered by the budget encompass assessed contributions to the EU, MFA management costs, and in-donor refugee costs, which comprise 3% of the total budget with an 8% cap on the use of ODA to cover in-donor refugee costs. The budget lacked detailed information on specific allocations, but rather outlined general policy priorities. Sweden's international development cooperation priorities remain the promotion of Agenda 2030; poverty reduction; health initiatives for the most vulnerable; support for democracy aid to human rights defenders and champions of democracy; expanded and streamlined climate assistance; and women’s and girls’ rights and opportunities, including improved SRHR.

The 2024 ODA budget is slated to emphasize counteracting irregular migration, increasing repatriation, and contributing effectively to voluntary returns, as well as addressing the root causes of migration. Synergy between Sweden’s global trade, export promotion, climate, foreign, and ODA policies was another priority. Sweden named a single minister responsible for both development assistance and foreign trade. The government also emphasized the importance of promoting ODA effectiveness metrics in development cooperation.

Negotiations on the 2024 budget will take place from early October to early December 2023. Usually, under a minority government such as the current one, the government must negotiate closely with the opposition.

Budget Reaction

Local CSOs and NGOs expressed dismay at Sweden’s recent trend of cutting ODA, the removal of the 1% ODA/GNI goal, and the apparent lack of consultation with CSOs that the current government undertook before announcing the target’s removal. While the proposed 2024 budget is in line with 2023’s spending levels, development advocates are hoping that the minority right-wing government’s need to negotiate closely with the liberal opposition will raise ODA/GNI during budget negotiations.