Minister for Foreign Trade (Sweden)

The Minister for Foreign Trade (Swedish: Utrikeshandelsminister), formally cabinet minister of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, is a member and minister of the Government of Sweden and is appointed by the Prime Minister. The minister is responsible for policies related to trade and investment promotion.

Minister for Foreign Trade of Sweden
Utrikeshandelsminister
Lesser coat of arms of Sweden
Incumbent Benjamin Dousa since 10 September 2024
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Appointer	The Prime Minister
Term length	No fixed term Serves as long as the Prime Minister sees fit
Formation	1920
First holder	Fredrik Vilhelm Thorsson

The current minister for foreign trade is Benjamin Dousa of the Moderate Party.^[1] He concurrently serves as minister for international development cooperation.

History

Between 1 July 1920 to 31 December 1982, there was a separate Ministry of Commerce and Industry which was headed by the minister of commerce and industry^[a] (handelsminister). Gunnar Lange [sv; fi] (s) held the office for the longest time; 14 years and 32 days. The trade policy issues were dealt with between 1983 and 1996 by the minister of foreign trade (utrikeshandelsminister), who was a minister without portfolio at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. From 1996 to 2002 the title was minister for trade (handelsminister), and from 2002 the issues were dealt with by the minister for industry, employment and communications. In 2006, trade issues were moved from the Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications back to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs by the Reinfeldt Cabinet. In 2014, the post of minister for trade was abolished and trade matters were transferred to the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation by the Löfven I Cabinet. In connection with the government reshuffle on 25 May 2016, the post was re-established and is sorted under the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The post has been combined with other ministerial posts since 2016: minister for EU affairs (2016–2019), minister for nordic cooperation (2019–2022) and minister for international development cooperation (2022–present).

List of officeholders

Color key

  Independent
Historical parties:   Lantmanna   Moderate   National Party   Liberals   Liberals   Liberals   Liberals
Present parties:   Social Democrats   Moderate   Centre   Left   Liberals   Christian Democrats   Green   Sweden Democrats

Status

  Denotes acting Minister of Commerce and Industry

Ministers of Commerce and Industry (1920–1982)
Portrait		Minister (Born-Died)	Term			Political Party	Coalition	Cabinet
			Took office	Left office	Duration
		Fredrik Vilhelm Thorsson (1865–1925)	1 July 1920	27 October 1920	118 days	Social Democrats	–	Branting I
		Gösta Malm (1873–1965) [4]	27 October 1920	13 October 1921	351 days	Independent	–	De Geer d.y. von Sydow
		Carl Svensson (1879–1938)	13 October 1921	19 April 1923	1 year, 188 days	Social Democrats	–	Branting II
		Nils Wohlin (1881–1948)	19 April 1923	18 October 1924	1 year, 182 days	Independent	–	Trygger
		Rickard Sandler (1884–1964) [5]	18 October 1924	27 February 1925	132 days	Social Democrats	–	Branting III Sandler
		Carl Svensson (1879–1938)	27 February 1925	7 June 1926	1 year, 130 days	Social Democrats	–	Sandler
		Felix Hamrin (1875–1937) [6]	7 June 1926	2 October 1928	2 years, 122 days	Liberals	L–L	Ekman I
		Vilhelm Lundvik (1883–1969) [7]	2 October 1928	7 June 1930	1 year, 248 days	Electoral League	–	Lindman II
		David Hansén (1880–1957) [8]	7 June 1930	24 September 1932	2 years, 109 days	Liberals	–	Ekman II Hamrin
		Fritjof Ekman (1888–1952)	24 September 1932	19 June 1936	3 years, 269 days	Social Democrats	–	Hansson I
		Elof Ericsson (1887–1961)	19 June 1936	28 September 1936	101 days	Independent	–	Pehrsson-Bramstorp
		Per Edvin Sköld (1891–1972) [9]	28 September 1936	16 December 1938	2 years, 79 days	Social Democrats	S/SAP–C	Hansson II
		Gustav Möller (1884–1970) [10]	16 December 1938	13 December 1939	362 days	Social Democrats	S/SAP–C	Hansson II
		Fritiof Domö (1889–1961)	13 December 1939	7 March 1941	1 year, 84 days	Moderate	S/SAP–C–L–M	Hansson III
		Herman Eriksson (1892–1949) [11]	7 March 1941	30 September 1944	3 years, 207 days	Social Democrats	S/SAP–C–L–M	Hansson III
		Bertil Ohlin (1899–1979) [12]	30 September 1944	31 July 1945	304 days	Liberals	S/SAP–C–L–M	Hansson III
		Gunnar Myrdal (1898–1987) [13]	31 July 1945	11 April 1947	2 years, 123 days	Social Democrats	–	Hansson IV Erlander I
		Axel Gjöres (1889–1979)	24 May 1947	24 September 1948	1 year, 123 days	Social Democrats	–	Erlander I
		John Ericsson (1907–1977)	28 October 1948	12 September 1955	6 years, 319 days	Social Democrats	S/SAP–C	Erlander I Erlander II
		Gunnar Lange (1909–1976) [14]	12 September 1955	14 October 1969	14 years, 32 days	Social Democrats	–	Erlander I Erlander II Palme I
		Kjell-Olof Feldt (1931–2025)	9 October 1970	9 November 1975	5 years, 0 days	Social Democrats	–	Palme I
		Carl Lidbom (1926–2004)	10 November 1975	8 October 1976	333 days	Social Democrats	–	Palme I
		Staffan Burenstam Linder (1931–2000)	8 October 1976	18 October 1978	2 years, 10 days	Moderate	C–M–L	Fälldin I
		Hadar Cars (born 1933)	18 October 1978	12 October 1979	359 days	Liberals	C–M–L	Ullsten
		Staffan Burenstam Linder (1931–2000)	12 October 1979	5 May 1981	1 year, 205 days	Moderate	C–M–L	Fälldin II
		Jan-Erik Wikström (1932–2024) Acting	5 May 1981	22 May 1981	17 days	Liberals	C–M–L	Fälldin II
		Björn Molin (1932–2024)	22 May 1981	8 October 1982	1 year, 139 days	Liberals	C–M–L	Fälldin III
		Lennart Bodström (1928–2015)	8 October 1982	31 December 1982	84 days	Social Democrats	C–M–L	Palme II
Ministers of Foreign Trade (1983–1996)
Portrait		Minister (Born-Died)	Term			Political Party	Coalition	Cabinet
			Took office	Left office	Duration
		Mats Hellström (born 1942)	11 January 1983	9 October 1986	3 years, 271 days	Social Democrats	–	Palme II Carlsson I
		Anita Gradin (1933–2022)	10 October 1986	4 October 1991	4 years, 359 days	Social Democrats	–	Carlsson I Carlsson II
		Ulf Dinkelspiel (1939–2017)	4 October 1991	7 October 1994	3 years, 3 days	Moderate	C–M–L–KD	Bildt
		Mats Hellström (born 1942)	7 October 1994	22 March 1996	1 year, 167 days	Social Democrats	–	Carlsson III
Ministers for Trade (1996–2002)
Portrait		Minister (Born-Died)	Term			Political Party	Coalition	Cabinet
			Took office	Left office	Duration
		Björn von Sydow (born 1945)	22 March 1996	31 January 1997	315 days	Social Democrats	–	Persson
		Leif Pagrotsky (born 1951)	1 February 1997	2002	5 years, 261 days	Social Democrats	–	Persson
Ministers for Industry, Employment and Communications (2002–2006)
Portrait		Minister (Born-Died)	Term			Political Party	Coalition	Cabinet
			Took office	Left office	Duration
		Leif Pagrotsky (born 1951)	21 October 2002	21 October 2004	2 years, 0 days	Social Democrats	–	Persson
		Thomas Östros (born 1965)	1 November 2004	6 October 2006	1 year, 339 days	Social Democrats	–	Persson
Ministers for Foreign Trade (2006–2014)
Portrait		Minister (Born-Died)	Term			Political Party	Coalition	Cabinet
			Took office	Left office	Duration
		Maria Borelius (born 1960)	6 October 2006	14 October 2006	8 days	Moderate	Alliance	Reinfeldt
		Sten Tolgfors (born 1966)	24 October 2006	12 September 2007	323 days	Moderate	Alliance	Reinfeldt
		Ewa Björling (born 1961)	12 September 2007	3 October 2014	7 years, 21 days	Moderate	Alliance	Reinfeldt
Ministers for Enterprise and Innovation (2014–2016)
Portrait		Minister (Born-Died)	Term			Political Party	Coalition	Cabinet
			Took office	Left office	Duration
		Mikael Damberg (born 1971)	3 October 2014	25 May 2016	1 year, 235 days	Social Democrats	S/SAP–MP	Löfven I
Ministers for Foreign Trade (2016–)
Portrait		Minister (Born-Died)	Term			Political Party	Coalition	Cabinet
			Took office	Left office	Duration
		Ann Linde (born 1961)	25 May 2016	10 September 2019	3 years, 108 days	Social Democrats	S/SAP–MP	Löfven I Löfven II
		Anna Hallberg (born 1963)	10 September 2019	18 October 2022	3 years, 38 days	Social Democrats	S/SAP–MP	Löfven II Löfven III Andersson
		Johan Forssell (born 1979)	18 October 2022	10 September 2024	1 year, 328 days	Moderate	M–KD–L	Kristersson
		Benjamin Dousa (born 1992)	10 September 2024	Incumbent	334 days	Moderate	M–KD–L	Kristersson

Footnotes

1. Handelsminister was translated during the 20th century into Minister of Commerce and Industry; (BrE) President of the Board of Trade; (AmE) Secretary of Commerce; (also) Minister for Economic Affairs.^[2] During the 1990s and 2000s, the title Minister for Trade was in use.^[3]