Sweden's net fees for EU membership are less than half a percent of GDP

To get a perspective on what countries pay in EU duties and what they receive in EU contributions, you can compare with member states' GDP, which shows the total value of services and goods produced in a country.

Sweden's net contribution – that is, the difference between the EU's and the EU's contributions – to the EU was on average about 0.4% of the country's GDP for the years 2000-2022. Net fees constitute part of public spending in Sweden, which in turn amounts to more than 47 percent of GDP in 2022.

Compared to other European Union countries, Sweden ranks fourth among the countries that paid the largest proportion of the Union's common budget.

One important explanation for the fact that the Swedes pay relatively more into the EU budget is that Sweden is much richer than many EU countries and that the country does not receive as much EU support as others, because Sweden does not have such poor areas or relatively large subsidized agriculture. Other EU countries may enjoy it.

Countries that contributed the most to the European Union budget to GDP are the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The EU countries that benefited most from membership during the measurement period are Lithuania, Latvia, and Hungary; All this amounts to more than the equivalent of 2.5% of GDP on average.

Changes over time

Most EU countries that were net payers – paying more than they got back – at the beginning of the measurement period also became net payers at the end. But some countries have gone from being net recipients to paying more in revenue from EU funds. Ireland in particular belongs to these countries.