Sweden is a small open economy exporting a large share of its domestic production. The cold climate and particular geography creates an uneven distribution of the population with pockets of concentration, and surprisingly low levels of inter regional inequalities. Chapter 1 is comprised of three main sections. The first section identifies Sweden’s main macroeconomic strengths and challenges. The second section illustrates the high levels of economic and demographic concentration present in Sweden, their impact on national output and the low levels of inter regional inequalities. This section also evaluates the asymmetric impact of the global financial crisis on Swedish regions. The third section assesses the main factors of growth at the regional level and identifies opportunities for growth in the areas of promoting innovation, enlarging labour markets, improving inter regional linkages and examining future sources of growth in rural regions in renewable energies.