Share of global plastic waste imports in Sweden
Sweden: Share of global plastic waste imports was 3.8% in 2024. ◆ Volatile
Share of global plastic waste imports in Sweden, 1992–2024
Source: United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Sweden recorded 3.8% for share of global plastic waste imports in 2024. That is the highest value across all 33 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.5% on the previous year and up 150.4% over five years.
Over the whole period, share of global plastic waste imports in Sweden peaked at 3.8% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 2012.
That places Sweden 11th out of 183 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.
Share of global plastic waste imports in Sweden, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 0.4% | — |
| 1993 | 0.2% | -52.6% |
| 1994 | 0.2% | +5.6% |
| 1995 | 0.2% | +14.9% |
| 1996 | 0.3% | +46.6% |
| 1997 | 0.3% | +8.2% |
| 1998 | 0.4% | +12.1% |
| 1999 | 0.4% | -3.0% |
| 2000 | 0.3% | -13.9% |
| 2001 | 0.3% | +5.6% |
| 2002 | 0.3% | -22.0% |
| 2003 | 0.2% | -27.5% |
| 2004 | 0.2% | +12.4% |
| 2005 | 0.2% | -25.3% |
| 2006 | 0.1% | -9.9% |
| 2007 | 0.6% | +301.6% |
| 2008 | 0.6% | +8.0% |
| 2009 | 0.9% | +48.6% |
| 2010 | 1.9% | +104.1% |
| 2011 | 1.6% | -15.8% |
| 2012 | 0.0% | -100.0% |
| 2013 | 1.4% | — |
| 2014 | 0.0% | -100.0% |
| 2015 | 1.2% | — |
| 2016 | 0.9% | -30.2% |
| 2017 | 0.7% | -15.9% |
| 2018 | 0.0% | -100.0% |
| 2019 | 1.5% | — |
| 2020 | 1.6% | +7.8% |
| 2021 | 1.8% | +11.8% |
| 2022 | 2.3% | +27.3% |
| 2023 | 3.7% | +59.2% |
| 2024 | 3.8% | +2.5% |
Sweden compared with similar countries
- Sweden's 3.8% is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.0%, 201.3× the median. (68 countries reporting)
- Sweden's 3.8% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.1%, 30.6× the median. (50 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of global plastic waste imports in Sweden changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | +301.6% | 0.1% | 0.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 8 |
| 2000s | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.9% | 0.0% | 1.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.6% | 1.6% | 3.8% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sweden
More environment data for Sweden
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 1.1 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -2.12 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.852 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 2.72 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 2.27 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate -0.0922 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of global plastic waste imports in Sweden?
- Share of global plastic waste imports 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 global plastic waste imports recorded in Sweden?
- The highest recorded value was 3.8% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of global plastic waste imports recorded in Sweden?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 2012.
- How does Sweden rank for share of global plastic waste imports?
- Sweden ranks 11th out of 183 countries with data for 2024.
- 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 global plastic waste imports. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 33 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of global plastic waste imports that a country accounts for.