Sweden’s involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade was relatively minor compared to other European powers. It began in the mid-17th century and continued into the 18th century.

Swedes who established themselves in Africa before doing so in America, took up the lucrative trade. In 1650, they were authorised to provide slave labour to the Portuguese colony of São Tomé and to load sugar there. They were later granted the right to transport slaves to the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao.

Swedish traders transported around 10,000 Africans, primarily from regions along the West African coast. The primary destination for these slaves was the Swedish colony of Saint Barthélemy in the Caribbean and Curacao.

Swedish slave trade was driven by the need for labour on sugar plantations, which were crucial to the colony’s economy. The country officially abolished the trade in 1813, and slavery itself was abolished in all Swedish territories in 1847.