The lowdown on the Swedish krona
The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873, replacing the previous currency, the Swedish riksdaler at par. The Swedish riksdaler coin was first minted back in 1604 and was the currency of Sweden up until 1873. These days, the krona is still nicknamed the riksdaler, as well as the spänn, bagare, bagis, pix and daler. And if you’re heading to Sweden, remember that the plural of krona is Swedish kronor, not kronas!
The new Swedish krona was introduced in 1873 as part of the Scandinavian Monetary Union, which lasted up until the First World War. All three Scandinavian countries were part of the union, with the currency known as krone in Denmark and Norway and as krona in Sweden, meaning ‘crown’ in all three languages. Each of the currencies in the union was on the gold standard at the same rate of 2480 to one kilogram of gold.
The Scandinavian Monetary Union ended in 1914 and the gold standard was abandoned. After this, all three countries kept the names of their money and turn them into separate currencies. The Swedish krona has been around ever since.
Sweden was the first country in Europe to issue bank notes, introduced by Stockholm’s Banco all the way back in 1661.
A look back at British pound to Swedish krona rates
Thanks to a combination of factors such as staying out of both of the world wars and almost 50% taxes, Sweden’s economy and quality of life was booming throughout much of the 20th century. The Swedish krona exchanged at a steady rate of around 14.5 to the British pound right up until 1968, when it reached 12.5 to the pound. By 1977, the krona had climbed all the way to 6.6 against the pound, almost reaching parity.
‘90s recession and recovery
However, as time wore on throughout the 19890s, lending skyrocketed and a real estate and financial bubble was formed, eventually bursting under the pressure of economic slowdown around the rest of the world. By the end of the 1990s, Sweden was in a full blown recession and the krona had fallen to around 14 to the pound.
The modern krona
Since 1992, the Swedish krona has been under a managed float and has somewhat stabilised its exchange rates. Since its low rate of 15.9 against the pound in 2003, it has been steadily gaining value, reaching all the way to 9.5 against the pound by early 2013. However, since early 2014, the krona has fallen again slightly, reaching back to around 13 krona to the pound. This is great news for your pounds of course!
Sweden and the euro
As part of the 1995 accession treaty, Sweden is required to adopt the euro at some point in the near future. However, a Swedish referendum held in September 2003 saw 56% of voters vote against adopting the currency and the Swedish government is not making any moves for this to happen imminently.
