Sweden’s cultural funding has fallen behind most of its Nordic neighbours, with culture accounting for just 1.0 percent of total public spending, according to a new analysis published by the trade union DIK. Sweden shares the lowest level in the Nordic region with Finland, while researchers say the gap also reflects broader differences in cultural policy and political priorities.
Sweden and Finland spend the smallest share on culture
In 2024, culture accounted for 1.0 percent of total public expenditure in Sweden and Finland, compared with 1.1 percent in Norway, 1.2 percent in Denmark and 2.2 percent in Iceland, according to DIK. The calculations, prepared by PwC using data from the Swedish Financial Management Authority (Ekonomistyrningsverket) and Eurostat, include spending by central, regional and local governments.
Sweden has also lost ground over time. In 2014, cultural spending represented 1.2 percent of total public expenditure. By 2024, the share had fallen to 1.0 percent, below the EU average of 1.24 percent.
The decline is even clearer when only central government expenditure is considered. Sweden’s culture budget for 2026 amounts to SEK 9.6 billion, around €861 million, equivalent to 0.62 percent of the state budget. According to DIK, this is the lowest share in more than 25 years, down from 0.83 percent in 2018.
Official statistics from the Swedish Agency for Cultural Policy Analysis (Myndigheten för kulturanalys) show that public expenditure specifically on culture, excluding popular education and media, amounted to SEK 28 billion in 2024. In real terms, overall cultural funding has declined in recent years despite a longer-term increase.
Norway’s cultural investment has followed a different path
Cultural researcher Ola K Berge, from Norway’s Telemark Research Institute, told TT that Norway has followed a different trajectory, with public investment in culture increasing over time even under governments more inclined towards market-oriented policies.
He argues that the effects may be visible in the growing international profile of Norwegian culture.
“Norwegian artists and works are gaining ground. International success is new. In the 1960s and 1970s, Sweden, Denmark and Finland were far ahead, but Norway has caught up.”
Berge cautioned that it is impossible to establish a direct causal link between higher cultural spending and individual successes, such as Jon Fosse’s Nobel Prize in Literature. However, he said stronger basic conditions could make it easier for artists and cultural industries to develop and reach international audiences.
Political choices also matter, according to Berge. Norway has, for example, adopted measures intended to support smaller languages and less commercially dominant forms of literature. He argues that such policies can protect diversity rather than allowing the market to concentrate almost exclusively on bestsellers.
Sweden also trails on private cultural funding
The comparison is more complex than public spending figures alone suggest. Malin Weijmar of Kulturanalys Norden has argued that cultural provision per inhabitant should also be considered. Such a comparison reduces some of the differences between the Nordic countries, although Sweden still remains among the countries with the lowest levels.
At the same time, Sweden also receives comparatively little private cultural funding. Research by the Swedish Agency for Cultural Policy Analysis found that foundations play a considerably larger role in Denmark, Finland and Norway. In 2022, foundations provided more than SEK 3.5 billion to culture in Denmark and more than SEK 900 million in Finland, compared with SEK 331 million in Sweden.
Minister for Culture Parisa Liljestrand has made broader financing of the cultural sector one of the government’s priorities. An inquiry presented to the government in May proposed economic incentives intended to increase private investment in culture. Liljestrand has argued that additional sources of funding should supplement rather than replace public support.
Kulturanalys Norden has nevertheless stressed that the balance between public and private resources remains important for the traditional objectives of Nordic cultural policy, including artistic freedom, cultural diversity and broad access to cultural life. It has also found that greater interest in private financing is visible across the Nordic region, although the role of foundations and other private actors differs considerably between countries.
The debate comes shortly before Sweden’s parliamentary election, with cultural funding increasingly becoming part of the broader disagreement over the role of public expenditure. The Nordic comparison shows that Sweden’s decline is not part of a uniform regional trend: while Swedish cultural funding has lost weight within public budgets, neighbouring countries have made different choices about how strongly the sector should be supported.
