When Sweden's exports up to and including the third quarter of 2025 are compiled, visitors and tourists from abroad are Sweden's fourth largest pure service export. Foreign visitors spent 93.3 billion in Sweden.
Sweden's travel exports, that is, how much money foreign visitors and tourists spend in Sweden increased 8 percent from 86.4 billion Swedish kronor in the first three quarters of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. +39% compared to the same period in the record year 2019.
If we compare Statistics Sweden's export figures of how much foreign visitors and tourists spent in Sweden, quarters 1-3 in 2025, with the same period in 2019, the increase is +39%. During the same period, the number of foreign guest nights in Sweden also increased by +11%, i.e. the number of overnight stays in commercial accommodation by foreign tourists in Sweden according to the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth.
In other words, visitors and tourism to Sweden from abroad are a growing and increasingly important part of Swedish exports.
Statistics Sweden's export data for the fourth quarter and the full year 2025 will not be published until March 2026.
Service exports with the largest export value for Sweden
(Jan-Sep 2025 in SEK according to Statistics Sweden)
- ”"Other business services" (aggregated figure by Statistics Sweden): 295 billion (295,185 million SEK)
- Tele-data and information services: 186.9 billion (186,992 million SEK)
- Transport: 112,901 million SEK
- Travel (foreign visitors and tourists in Sweden): 93.3 billion (93,315 million SEK)
Note: In its service export reporting, Statistics Sweden has aggregated several business service export areas into one category: ”Other business services”, which is the largest in SEK. The item Transport also includes transport by foreign visitors, but these are not reported separately by Statistics Sweden.
Compared to other Swedish exports, tourism is doing well
To compare the value of service export with value for goods and product exports can be complicated. There are many categories, subcategories and accounting models, depending on what is being compared.
At the same time: Statistics Sweden's reported export value for some selected goods and products, quarters 1-3, Jan-Sep 2025: Iron ore: 20.5 billion (20,476 million SEK), Iron and steel: 57.3 billion (57,311 million SEK), Timber: 35.9 billion (35,905 million SEK), Pulp: 21.7 billion (21,690 million SEK), Paper including cardboard: 75.3 billion (75,308 million SEK) [scb.se]
Background: Export value
Statistics Sweden
Statistics Sweden manages various types of accounts and factual information. On the one hand, they have a database with facts about trade in services where the export value for Travel is stated. Statistics Sweden also manages the National Accounts of Sweden. From Statistics Sweden, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Development obtains facts that they use for compilations of the export value of tourism/foreign tourism consumption. Since the data for this is obtained from the National Accounts compilation, they cannot be used for comparing the size of different export industries.
Statistics for exports are presented with a lag. In Statistics Sweden, Statistics Sweden's database for Trade in Services, "service exports" of "Travel" are reported annually, that is, the export value of tourism - consumption by foreign tourists in Sweden. Statistics Sweden's figures enable comparison of the export value of tourism with other exports.
Statistics Sweden's trade in services in millions of kronor, exports and imports by type of service and country: https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/sv/ssd/START__HA__HA0202/HA0202TjHaArN
Statistics Sweden's information on Sweden's service exports, quarter 3 2025: https://www.scb.se/hitta-statistik/statistik-efter-amne/naringsverksamhet-och-utrikeshandel/utrikeshandel/utrikeshandel-med-tjanster/pong/statistiknyhet/utrikeshandel-med-tjanster-kvartal-3-2025/
The Agency for Economic Growth
In Statistics Sweden's figures, parts of the financial items of trade in services are included in other categories in the accounts than "travel", which means that there is a discrepancy with The Agency for Economic Growth compilation of foreign tourism consumption.
The data from both data providers is correct, but differs due to different calculation models. They compare different things.
The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth's report on tourism export value/foreign tourism consumption (123 billion SEK in 2023 and 126 billion in 2024) is based on Sweden's official National Accounts with fixed prices and 2023 as the base year, in order to be able to compare over time, regardless of inflation. In Sweden's National Accounts, however, which are managed by Statistics Sweden, all economic sub-items for the "travel currency item" are reported as a lump sum.
The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth will present Preliminary statistics for 2025 on April 15, 2026 and definitive statistics for 2024 and updated statistics for 2025 on October 29, 2026.
