The Swedish government published a national strategy for quantum technology on August 18, 2026, with five goals for the field to 2036. The Ministry of Education and Research released it with an announcement in which it quoted Lotta Edholm, Minister for Upper Secondary School, Higher Education and Research.
The government named no sums of money in the strategy and wrote that it intends to carry out the measures through, for example, assignments to government agencies. It funds Swedish quantum research through instruments set up separately, including its 2025–2028 research bill and a program run by Vinnova, Sweden’s innovation agency.
“Sweden today has a strong position in the field of quantum technology,” Edholm said in the announcement. She said that for Sweden as a country to fully realize the field’s potential, it needs, among other things, better contacts between research and industry, strengthened skills supply, and active participation in international collaborations on quantum technology.
Five goals
The government set these goals for quantum technology in Sweden to 2036:
- strong research, innovation capacity, and industrial leadership
- strong and competitive skills supply
- effective coordination among agencies, universities, industry, and others in the innovation system
- protection of strategic quantum technology and responsible use of technologies
- active participation in international cooperation
The government based the strategy on an evidence report that the Swedish Research Council delivered in October 2024. It had commissioned that report on May 28, 2024, asking for the basis of a national quantum strategy for 2025–2030.
Funding
In the strategy, the government described its research and innovation bill for 2025–2028, government bill 2024/25:60, as the largest Swedish research investment ever. It listed a new strategic research area in quantum technology among the bill’s investments.
In March 2026, the Swedish Research Council recommended that the government fund two quantum technology consortia in that area. It proposed 30 million Swedish kronor in 2027 and SEK 60 million in 2028 for a consortium led by Chalmers University of Technology. For a consortium led by Stockholm University, it proposed SEK 20 million in 2027 and SEK 40 million in 2028.
The council wrote that the government plans to set aside SEK 50 million in 2027 and SEK 100 million in 2028 for the area. According to the council, the government makes the final funding decision.
Under a separate assignment that it decided on May 28, 2025, the government allowed Vinnova to use SEK 62 million in 2025 for collaborative research and innovation in excellence clusters for strategic technologies. It planned SEK 143 million for 2026, SEK 268 million for 2027, and SEK 537 million for 2028. The amounts are for the whole assignment, in which quantum technology is one of six strategic areas.
The government mentioned the Wallenberg Centre for Quantum Technology, or WACQT, in the strategy as an example of where Swedish quantum research takes place. The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, which funds WACQT, described its grant as SEK 1.4 billion during 2018–2030 and said the program concludes in 2030.
Cryptography
In a boxed section on quantum computers and cryptology, the government wrote that quantum computers may in time threaten the most common cryptological functions. It added that data encrypted with today’s methods could be collected now and decrypted later through quantum cryptanalysis.
The government wrote that commercial equipment for quantum key distribution exists but that the technology is at a very early stage and is not currently judged applicable on a broader scale. In quantum key distribution, or QKD, two parties share encryption keys through quantum states of light in a way that reveals eavesdropping.
The government described post-quantum cryptography as a more immediately applicable way to protect information. Post-quantum cryptography, or PQC, consists of public-key algorithms designed to resist attacks by quantum computers. The government wrote that quantum-safe methods for key exchange, digital signatures, and data encryption are already standardized and available.
As an example of a tool organizations can use, the government pointed to transition recommendations from Sweden’s National Cyber Security Centre, or NCSC. In recommendations announced on May 27, 2026, NCSC called for the transition to quantum-safe cryptography to be complete by the end of 2035, and by the end of 2030 for information that stays sensitive for more than 10 years.
International cooperation
The government wrote that a quantum technology working group was set up under the Nordic Council of Ministers in May 2026. It also wrote that it intends to increase cooperation with the Baltic states. It cited EU initiatives including the Chips Act, EuroHPC, the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure, and a planned Quantum Act.
The government also cited Sweden’s Technology Prosperity Deal with the United States, in which quantum technology is one of several areas of cooperation. The White House published the deal on May 22, 2026, as a non-binding memorandum of understanding. The government wrote that Sweden takes part in NATO’s Transatlantic Quantum Community.
Follow-up
The government wrote that the strategy should be followed up, evaluated, and developed regularly. It wrote that Vinnova is to produce knowledge bases and roadmaps for quantum technology under its excellence cluster assignment, as contributions to that follow-up.
Under the assignment, Vinnova must report a roadmap for each technology area to the Government Offices by October 3 each year, starting in 2026.
Update, November 12, 2026: On October 5, Vinnova published roadmaps for strategic technologies under its government assignment, with a section on quantum technology. On October 12, Vinnova announced 13 policy proposals from the roadmaps and named no sum specific to quantum technology.
