Sweden Hospital Beds

Sweden’s hospital‑bed stock has contracted dramatically since the early 1970s, falling from an all‑time peak of 15.30 beds per 1,000 people in 1970 to just 1.76 in 2025, the lowest level recorded in the World Bank series and ranking 82nd globally. The decline reflects a 88.5 % reduction over 55 years, driven by shifts toward outpatient care, advances in medical technology and policy reforms that favour efficiency over bed capacity. By contrast, Finland, a peer with a comparable health‑system model, maintained 1.72 beds per 1,000 in 2025, indicating that Sweden’s trajectory is steeper than that of its Nordic neighbour. The trough reached in 2025 follows a 38‑year coverage window that captures the long‑term downsizing of inpatient infrastructure. Future changes in demographic pressure, such as an aging population, or a reversal in policy emphasis toward inpatient services could moderate the downward path, but current trends suggest continued compression of bed numbers.