Living costs are so-so in proper top tier “first world” terms —which I put in quotes because I know most of Eastern Europe sits somewhere between first and second world when it comes to wages and services.

In comparison to the other rich countries of Europe on similar wages (Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Austria) Sweden’s very expensive for food and convenience. Rent is expensive if you’re not on the list. Healthcare is cheap but waiting lists are outrageous. Transport is average but very good quality. You definitely get more for your money in other countries when rent is excluded. However government is efficient and BankID makes dealing with bureaucracy very easy.

I really like living in Stockholm and it’s incredibly beautiful but there are definitely drawbacks. Swedes don’t save money. They don’t expect to run into difficulty because the state protects them. There’s a lot of credit options on a lot of things and household debt is high. So if you take a high paying job in Stockholm and expect to save for a mortgage you’re going to have a hard time.

But of course the quality of life is much better than somewhere like Latvia but I’m not sure it’s a fair comparison given that Sweden has been a stable rich country for a long time and Eastern Europe was basically held prisoner for 45 years by the USSR while Western Europe was developing.