About the Swedish Krona
The Swedish krona (plural kronor) is the currency of Sweden. It is issued by Sveriges Riksbank, founded in 1668 and the oldest central bank still operating. The krona has floated freely since November 1992.
Sweden is a member of the EU but has not adopted the euro and is not in the EU's exchange rate mechanism, so the krona floats against the euro. Most of Sweden's trade is with euro countries, which makes EUR/SEK the main reference rate. Sweden's economy leans on exports of machinery, vehicles, timber and metals, so the krona is sensitive to global growth.
The Riksbank targets 2% inflation, measured by CPIF. Sweden is one of the most cashless countries in the world: öre coins were withdrawn in 2010, and cash prices are rounded to whole kronor.
Paying in SEK
- Clearing number and IBAN
- A Swedish account is identified by a 4- or 5-digit clearing number (the bank and branch) followed by the account number. For payments from abroad, use the IBAN, which starts SE and is 24 characters long, together with the bank's SWIFT/BIC code.
- Bankgiro and Plusgiro
- Swedish businesses usually ask to be paid to a Bankgiro number (7 or 8 digits) or, less often, a Plusgiro number. These belong to the business rather than to one bank account, so check whether your payment can be routed to them or whether you need the underlying IBAN.
- OCR reference
- Swedish invoices often carry an OCR number, a reference the recipient uses to match the payment automatically. Quote it exactly, on its own, in the payment reference.
- Settlement and SEPA
- Payments in kronor between Swedish banks settle in RIX, the Riksbank's settlement system. Sweden is in SEPA, but SEPA covers euro payments only, so a SEK payment is not a SEPA transfer.
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