Self-sufficiency in Sweden during 1970 – 2020

Sweden has gone from an agricultural society to an industrial society which may lead to a less self-sufficient country. The concept of self-sufficiency has been a way to narrate how dependent a country is of the import to provide the population with enough food. The Swedish society is not only dependent of import of food but also import of fuel, chemical fertilizers, seeds and spare parts to various agricultural machineries. This study will investigate how agricultural area and enterprises and energy supply per person in Sweden have changed during 1970 to 2020. The results show an overall decrease of agricultural land with 16 percent and especially a decrease is found among smaller scale agricultural enterprises. In contradiction an increase is seen of large agricultural companies with 200 percent during this time period. The energy supply per person has decreased and after taking export into account the change is from 114 percent self -sufficiency 1970 to a 48 percent self-sufficiency during 2020. In conclusion; reduced arable land, decreasing agricultural enterprises and a lower degree of self-sufficiency makes Sweden more dependent on commercial agreements and more vulnerable for trade restrictions. Trade restrictions regarding goods to the agriculture industry could lead to food shortage in the country