GDP is the value of all goods and services produced in a country during one year. Even though GDP is not a perfect measure it gives an idea of how well-off a country is. It is also the most common way of describing economic growth. The most common definition of economic growth is in fact the increase of GDP over time.
During the 1970s and the 1980s, Sweden had a lower GDP growth rate than both the average growth of the EU as well as the average growth of the OECD area. The recession in Sweden in the beginning of the 1990s led to a low mark regarding economic growth as the GDP growth rate actually fell during three years. Between 1990 and 1993, the GDP fell by about 4 percent in terms of volume. After 1993, the growth rate in Sweden accelerated again and was comparable to the growth rate of the OECD. During 1998-2000, the volume growth rate was actually higher than in comparable countries, at just over 4 percent per year.
After years of economic growth, the Swedish economy, as the rest of the developed world, was again affected by a sharp economic downturn because of the IT-crash in the beginning of 2000. The crisis was followed, however, by an economic boom. World trade increased sharply, which resulted in rapid export growth for Sweden. The Swedish GDP growth rate reached 4 percent in both 2004 and 2006. In 2007 the economic growth slowed down again and in late 2008 the financial crisis resulted in a deep recession. The GDP growth fell during 2009, however, it recovered somewhat during 2010.