Comparison of selected socio-economic indicators of Sweden and the Czech Republic

The following factors such as inflation, GDP per capita, unemployment, social security expenditure, higher education and migration are used as a basis for an analysis between the two countries, Sweden, and the Czech Republic. The findings indicate certain differences in the dynamics of inflation, GDP growth, unemployment rates and social spending strategies between the two countries. The Czech Republic tends to reduce the gap with Sweden in per capita economic performance in purchasing power parity per capita, with the Czech Republic's value rising from 78% to 90% of the EU average between 1995 and 2022, while Sweden's value fell from 130% to 119% of the EU average over the same period. The gap in real GDP expressed in euros per capita is widening, with Sweden's economic output growing by an average of 559 euros per person, while the Czech economy grows by 329 euros per person between 2000 and 2022. The Czech Republic records a long-term unemployment rate below 1% from 2017 to the latest survey in 2022, while Sweden's long-term unemployment fluctuates at 2% with small spikes since 2010. However, total unemployment in the Czech Republic has been at the level of Sweden's long-term unemployment since 2018, while in Sweden the total unemployment has been stable at 7-9% since 2011, when the time series started. The level of social security spending has been increasing in the Czech Republic, with spending rising from 15.5% of GDP in 1995 to 21.2% in 2021. In contrast, spending in Sweden has fallen from 31.5% to 27.5% over the same period. None of the countries have made major changes to their social security spending policies. The share of the population with higher education is growing at an average rate of 0.7 percentage points per year in the Czech Republic, while in Sweden the average growth is 0.9 percentage points per year. Sweden has a more significant number of immigrants, and the proportion of immigrants from lower and middle HDI countries is also higher. Furthermore, Sweden and the Czech Republic have both had the highest number of immigrants, from lower and middle HDI countries, in different respective years. Sweden had 534 per 1,000 total immigrants in 2016, compared to the Czech Republic’s 166 out of 1,000 total immigrants in 2017. In Sweden, the at-risk-of-poverty rate has been increasing and has stabilised at 15-17% of the population since 2011, while in the Czech Republic it has fluctuated at 8-11% since the start of the time series in 2005. The proportion of children at risk of poverty appears to be influenced by the origin of their parents, with children whose parents have foreign citizenship having a higher risk of poverty, especially in Sweden. Additionally, there is a decreasing trend in the number of prisoners in the Czech Republic and a more effective reintegration system in Sweden, with an average of 75% fewer prisoners between 2013 and 2021.