Sweden is a unitary state with certain autonomy for local and regional governments guaranteed by its Instrument of Government (one of its Fundamental Laws). In total, the national government provided 47 per cent of public expenditure on culture in 2022. Most of the practical work of the national government is carried out by government agencies. These receive formal instructions decided in government decisions within a framework decided by Parliament. The main actors in Swedish cultural policy on the national level include the following:
The Parliament (Riksdagen) elects the government, legislates and decides on the national budget, including the general policies, and provisions for government agencies (including some of the major cultural institutions). The national government’s principal responsibility within cultural policy is proposing legislation and the national budget, as well as co-ordinating and long-term planning cultural policy via the appropriate ministries and related bodies.
The Ministry of Culture is responsible for the arts, cultural heritage, media, national minorities, civil society, and democracy. It prepares government bills concerning these areas, and coordinates government agencies. More than 40 government agencies report to the Ministry of Culture. The main agencies dealing with cultural policy are described in this chapter. Government agencies responsible to the Ministry of Culture include many of the more than 30 museums financed directly by the state. Directly responsible to the Ministry of Culture is also The Royal Opera and The Royal Dramatic Theatre. Through its grants to regional governments, the state supports a large number of regional museums, theatres and other cultural institutions (web page).
The Ministry of Education and Research is responsible for education on all levels, including cultural education and education in the arts (web page).
The Ministry of Climate and Enterprise is responsible for supporting business and innovation in various sectors, including cultural and creative industries.
The Swedish Arts Council (Kulturrådet) is a government agency reporting to the Ministry of Culture. It allocates funds to organisations in accordance with cultural policy, for a number of purposes. The Council is responsible for:
- the allocation of state cultural funding to theatre, dance, music, literature, arts periodicals and public libraries, and to the fine arts, museums and exhibitions;
- providing the Swedish government with the basic data it needs to make cultural policy decisions, by evaluating state spending in the cultural sphere, etc;
- providing information on culture and cultural policy; and
- approving regional cultural plans before allocating national funding to the regional level.
(web page).
The National Heritage Board (Riksantikvarieämbetet) is a government agency reporting to the Ministry of Culture. It serves as Sweden’s central administrative agency in the area of cultural heritage and historic environments. Among its activities are initiatives aiming to protect historic environments, preservation, conservation, interagency coordination, and the accumulation and dissemination of information in these areas. Since 2017, the National Heritage Board also has responsibility for coordinating and developing museums and museum policy (web page).
Swedish Arts Grants Committee is a government agency that distributes state scholarships and grants to individual artists working in the visual arts, design, music, dance, theatre and film (web page).
The Swedish Agency for Cultural Policy Analysis (Myndigheten för kulturanalys) was established in 2011 to gather information on arts and culture, follow relevant research, analyse information and evaluate cultural policy. It is also responsible for statistics within the area of cultural policy. It reports every fourth year to the government. The national budget for 2027 states that the government intends to review the possibility of transferring tasks to the National Council for Culture (web page).
The Royal Library (Kungliga biblioteket) is a government agency reporting to the Ministry of Education. It is responsible for the national library of Sweden, collecting all works published in the country, as well as a number of other categories of relevant material and media. It is also responsible for official statistics and coordination regarding public libraries in Sweden. On issues regarding public libraries, the Royal Library reports to the Ministry of Culture (web page).
The Sámi Parliament (Sametinget) is an elected body acting as a representative body for the Sámi people in Sweden. The Sámi Parliament supports professional skills development, as well as Sámi culture and language. The role of the Swedish Sámi Parliament is regulated in Swedish law and financed through the Swedish national budget (web page). Similar Sámi parliaments also exist in Norway and Finland.
The Swedish Film Institute (Svenska Filminstitutet, SFI) is a government-funded foundation responsible for the promotion, support and development of Swedish film, the allocation of grants for the production, distribution and exhibition of Swedish films, and the promotion of Swedish cinema abroad (web page).
The Swedish Institute (Svenska Institutet, SI), together with the Swedish Arts Council, is responsible for supporting and initiating activities promoting international cultural exchanges (see also 1.4.1) (web page).
The Swedish Media Council (Statens Medieråd) is a government agency established in 2011, when the National Board of Film Classification was merged with the former Swedish Media Council. Its objectives include reducing the risk of harmful media influences on minors and empowering minors as conscious media users. The agency is to be merged with the Swedish Press and Broadcasting Authority by January 1st, 2024.
Swedish Television (Sveriges Television, SVT) is the Swedish public service TV broadcaster. It is organized as a public limited company, and funded by a special tax on personal income. Together with the other two public broadcasters, Swedish Radio (Sveriges Radio) and Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company (Sveriges Utbildningsradio), it is owned by an independent foundation. The foundation’s board is appointed by the national government and consists of 13 representatives of the political parties in the Riksdag. The foundation in turn appoints the members of the SVT board.
The Authors’ Fund (Författarfonden) (web page) compensates writers for works being lent out in public libraries.
The National Public Arts Council (Statens konstråd) and The Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design were government agencies that, from January 1st, 2026, are part of the Swedish Museum of Modern Art. As a result of this merger, the enlarged government agency now maintains the Museum of Modern Art, supports architecture and design, and publicly displays artworks.
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