Share of plastic waste exports in Sweden
Sweden: Share of plastic waste exports was 3.8% in 2024. ◆ Volatile
Share of plastic waste exports in Sweden, 1994–2024
Source: United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of plastic waste exports in Sweden is 3.8%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 21 years on record.
That represents a change of up 51.8% on the previous year and up 433.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of plastic waste exports in Sweden peaked at 3.8% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.5%, in 2005.
That places Sweden 5th out of 162 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 3 |
| 2000s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 3 |
| 2010s | 0.9% | 0.6% | 1.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.8% | 2.4% | 3.8% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sweden
More environment data for Sweden
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 52.57 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 4.97 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 3.79 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.3307 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 0.2101 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.2019 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 8.12 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.1974 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0287 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 3.35 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of plastic waste exports in Sweden?
- Share of plastic waste exports in Sweden was 3.8% in 2024, according to United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of plastic waste exports recorded in Sweden?
- The highest recorded value was 3.8% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of plastic waste exports recorded in Sweden?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.5% in 2005.
- How does Sweden rank for share of plastic waste exports?
- Sweden ranks 5th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of plastic waste exports rising or falling in Sweden?
- Over the last ten years it is up 433.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Sweden data come from?
- The figures come from United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of plastic waste exports. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 21 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The percentage of global plastic waste exports that a country accounts for.