Swedes are more willing to pay for sustainable investments, despite subdued confidence that said investments will deliver higher returns, the latest Sustainability and Consumer Finances Survey (SUSY) has found.

According to the survey, as of 2025, some 23% of Swedes are willing to pay higher fees for sustainable investments, compared with 16% in 2024. The share of individuals willing to accept a lower pension in exchange for holding a sustainable investment portfolio has also increased, from 11% to 15%.

At the same time, both measures sit below 2023 levels, when more than a third (34%) of respondents said that they would be willing to pay higher fees for sustainable investments and 19% were willing to accept a lower pension.

Higher returns
Just 11% of respondents believe that sustainable investments generate higher returns – a figure that is almost unchanged since the previous year.

‘This points to a persistent trust gap: while more Swedes are again willing to bear some personal financial cost for sustainable investments, most remain unconvinced that such choices will improve their financial outcomes,’ SUSY noted.

Elsewhere, attitudes towards climate change remain relatively unchanged, the study found, with more than three quarters (77%) of respondents saying that they believe global warming is caused by human activity, compared to 78% last year, while two thirds (65%) believe that the government should do more to tackle climate change.

‘More cautious’
“The 2025 [data] does not appear to be driven by stronger beliefs that sustainable investments offer better financial returns,” commented Anders Anderson, Swedish House of Finance researcher and associate professor at the Stockholm School of Economics, said. “One possible explanation is that recent setbacks among high-profile green industrial projects have made households more cautious about the financial case for green investments.”

On a regional basis, Stockholm and Uppsala recorded the highest willingness to pay higher fees for sustainable investments, with around 29% of respondents in both regions supporting the idea. In Stockholm, this percentage has risen from 18% in 2024. Örebro also reported relatively strong support for sustainable investing.

Elsewhere, Gävleborg and Norrbotten recorded the lowest shares of respondents who believe global warming is mainly caused by human activity, at 66% and 68% respectively.

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