Travel Risk Atlas

Sweden

Northern Europe · Capital Stockholm

Level 2 United States Exercise Increased Caution FCDO United Kingdom No advisory against travel Green Netherlands Green — you can travel Level 2 Canada Exercise a high degree of caution AA Germany No warning in force

Each opens that government's own advisory for Sweden — the authoritative version, updated far faster than this page.

12.3 Very low risk
Atlas Risk Score · 27th safest of 220
rover near road and buildings
Photo: Jon Flobrant / Unsplash

Sweden is a safe, orderly country and the everyday risk to a visitor is very low. Two things are worth knowing that are not obvious: taxi fares are completely deregulated, and the country has a real gang-violence problem that is almost entirely invisible to tourists.

The gang shootings and bombings that dominate Swedish news are targeted disputes in specific residential suburbs. They are not aimed at visitors and do not happen in the places visitors go — but pretending they do not exist would be dishonest.

Where the risk actually is

Risk is rarely spread evenly across a country. The base colour is the code the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs gives Sweden as a whole; shaded regions are those the UK Foreign Office names in an advisory against travel.

Blekinge — No specific warningBlekinge — No specific warningDalarna — No specific warningGotland — No specific warningGotland — No specific warningGotland — No specific warningGävleborg — No specific warningHalland — No specific warningJämtland — No specific warningJönköping — No specific warningKalmar — No specific warningKalmar — No specific warningKronoberg — No specific warningNorrbotten — No specific warningNorrbotten — No specific warningNorrbotten — No specific warningNorrbotten — No specific warningNorrbotten — No specific warningNorrbotten — No specific warningNorrbotten — No specific warningNorrbotten — No specific warningNorrbotten — No specific warningNorrbotten — No specific warningOrebro — No specific warningSkåne — No specific warningStockholm — No specific warningStockholm — No specific warningStockholm — No specific warningStockholm — No specific warningStockholm — No specific warningStockholm — No specific warningStockholm — No specific warningStockholm — No specific warningStockholm — No specific warningStockholm — No specific warningStockholm — No specific warningStockholm — No specific warningStockholm — No specific warningStockholm — No specific warningStockholm — No specific warningStockholm — No specific warningStockholm — No specific warningStockholm — No specific warningSödermanland — No specific warningUppsala — No specific warningUppsala — No specific warningVärmland — No specific warningVästerbotten — No specific warningVästerbotten — No specific warningVästerbotten — No specific warningVästerbotten — No specific warningVästernorrland — No specific warningVästernorrland — No specific warningVästmanland — No specific warningVästra Götaland — No specific warningVästra Götaland — No specific warningVästra Götaland — No specific warningÖstergötland — No specific warningÖstergötland — No specific warningÖstergötland — No specific warningVänernVätternStorsjönHjälmarenPyhäjärviStoravanUddjaureFemundenFemundenAursundØyerenSiljanTorneträskVirihaureHornavanBolmenÅsnenFoxenPyhäjärviRandijaureStorumanSnåsavatnetRøssvatnetMälarenAkkajaureStora LulevattenMjøsa
What governments advise No specific warning

What the warnings actually cover

  • Whole country — No specific warning. No government currently advises against travel to any part of this country. The colour reflects general caution levels only, not a warned area.

Shading marks whole regions named in an advisory, but a warning is often narrower — a border strip, one road, or a single city. Read the wording, and check the official advisory linked below.

What drives the score

Each pillar is scored 0–100 against every other country. Longer bar = more risk.

Natural hazards
10% of score · mainly flooding
26/100
35th of 220
Political stability
10% of score
19/100
18th of 220
Official advisories
25% of score
13/100
84th of 220
Conflict & terrorism
15% of score
13/100
86th of 220
Crime
15% of score
9/100
9th of 220
Road & transport
10% of score
5/100
12th of 220
Health & medical
15% of score
4/100
8th of 220
Women's safety
not in the score
28/100

Biggest factor here: natural hazards. Earthquakes, floods, cyclones, drought and tsunami exposure.

Practical facts

The things worth knowing before you land.

Emergency number
112
Single European emergency number — police, fire and ambulance, free from any phone
Currency
SEK kr
€1 ≈ 10.92 SEK
Languages
Swedish
Visa (EU passport)
Visa free
US: 90 days visa-free · UK: 90 days visa-free
Population
10.6m
World Bank 2025
Capital
Stockholm
Driving
On the right
3.1 road deaths per 100k
Power
Type C, F
220-240V
Safely managed water
100%
Widely available · of residents, not a tap-water verdict
Dialling code
+46
GDP per capita
$63k
A rough guide to price levels
Visitors a year
7.6m
International arrivals, 2019

When to go

Average daytime high and nightly low for Stockholm, over 2010-2019. Bars are rainfall; the colour band is how hot the days get.

Mildest and driest around June to August.

Daytime high freezing cold mild warm
Top figure is the average daytime high, below it the average nightly low, and millimetres of rain under each bar. Figures are the average daytime high; bar heights are the month's rainfall. Shaded months are the mild, drier ones. Source: NASA POWER daily observations, 2010-2019, public domain.

Common scams in Sweden

Patterns reported repeatedly by travellers and local police. None of this is about individual businesses — it's about set-ups you can learn to spot in seconds.

Unregulated taxi fares

Arlanda airport, Stockholm and Gothenburg ranksCommon

A taxi that looks identical to any other charges four or five times the standard fare, legally, because Swedish law lets it. The price is disclosed on the yellow sticker most visitors do not know to read.

How to avoid it: Check the yellow comparison-price sticker in the rear window, or book through an app or one of the large named companies. The Arlanda Express train is fixed-price.

Sources Swedish Consumer Agency — taxi prices UK FCDO Sweden — safety and security

Pickpocketing in central Stockholm

Gamla Stan, T-Centralen, DrottninggatanCommon

Standard European city pickpocketing, concentrated in the old town and the central station in summer.

How to avoid it: Ordinary care. Sweden is close to cashless, so the real loss is the phone rather than a wallet.

Sources Swedish Police

Risk hotspots

Specific places that come up again and again — either in government advisories or in traveller reports. Everywhere else in Sweden is not automatically fine, but these are the areas worth a plan.

Specific suburbs of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö Organised crime

Shootings and explosive attacks between criminal networks. Targeted, concentrated in residential areas with no visitor attractions, and essentially never involving tourists — but real.

Winter ice and darkness Natural hazard

Falls on ice are the most common visitor injury. In the far north there is barely any daylight in December.

Northern wilderness Natural hazard

Huge distances, patchy phone coverage and slow rescue. The right to roam comes with no safety infrastructure.

Taxis can legally charge anything

Sweden deregulated taxi pricing in 1990 and never re-regulated it. Any operator may set any fare, and some at Arlanda airport and the Stockholm ranks charge several times the normal rate entirely legally.

Every taxi must display a yellow price sticker in the rear window showing the comparison price for a standard 10km/15-minute journey. Read it before getting in — a normal figure is a few hundred kronor, and the ones to avoid show four figures. Booking by app removes the problem entirely.

Winter and wilderness

Northern Sweden gets very cold and very dark, with only a few hours of usable daylight in December. Ice on pavements causes more injuries to visitors than anything criminal.

Allemansrätten, the right to roam, gives extraordinary freedom in the outdoors and no corresponding safety net. Mobile coverage in the north is patchy and rescue is distant.

Compare with neighbours

Sources for this page

Vaccinations, malaria and outbreaks. This atlas does not give medical advice — it is personal, it changes, and it is the one thing worth getting from a doctor. Both national services publish current advice for Sweden:

CDC Travelers' HealthTravelHealthPro (NHS/UKHSA)

Check the official advisory before you book. This page reflects data as of August 2026. Advisories change without warning, and only your own government's advice affects your travel insurance.