Swedish Currency – With A
Pocket Full Of Crowns

The Swedish currency is the crown or krona. Unlike other EU countries Sweden hasn’t switched to the euro.

After a setback in the Nineties the krona is quite strong again. Mid January 2005 you got 6.9 crowns for 1 US dollar, and 9 crowns for 1 euro.

Scroll down to perform a real time Swedish currency conversion and get the latest figures.
You can buy Swedish kronor before departure from your local bank. But for safety reasons it is best to change most of your money once you are in Sweden.

All major Swedish airports have an exchange desk. In Stockholm and other bigger cities you will find several cash dispensers in shopping districts. Small towns have at least one.

If your cash card or credit card bears the Maestro or Cirrus logo you can receive money from most Swedish cash dispensers.

You can also change in banks. Good exchange rates are offered by Forex, that has an office at central station in Stockholm and in the NK department store (Hamngatan). Another good one in Stockholm is X-Change in the PUB department store (Drottninggatan 72).

Credit cards of all major brands (MasterCard, American Express, Visa) are also widely accepted in shops, hotels and restaurants all over Sweden.

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Widely used abbreviations of the Swedish currency are SEK and kr. The plural form of krona is kronor. The krona is divided in 100 öre. In circulation are:

Coins

  • 50 öre
  • 1 kr
  • 5 kr
  • 10 kr

Banknotes

  • 20 kr
  • 50 kr
  • 100 kr
  • 500 kr
  • 1 000 kr

Will the euro replace the krona as the Swedish currency?

The krona was introduced as the Swedish currency as a result of the Scandinavian Monetary Union in 1873.

The three Scandinavian countries agreed to have one currency named krona (Sweden) or krone (Denmark, Norway).

The krona replaced the original Swedish currency riksdaler.

The monetary union lasted only until the First World War. However, the three countries decided to keep the old names, so the krona remained the Swedish currency.

In 2003 the government asked the Swedes in a referendum if the country should join the European Monetary Union and replace the krona by the euro. A majority of the Swedes said ‘no’.

Many Swedes were afraid the loss of their own Swedish currency would harm the strong economy and welfare state. Others wanted to keep the krona, because they felt it is part of their national identity.

Nevertheless, experts expect the question if the krona should stay the Swedish currency will become topical again in a matter of years.


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