Sweden is fully metric, but Swedes still talk in mil, quote fuel in liters per mil, bake with deciliters and spoons of fixed size, and forecast wind in meters per second. Here is every unit you will hear or read, converted.
When you need this
A Swede tells you the cabin is “bara tre mil” away. The car owner says it uses “sju deciliter milen”. The recipe on the rental-cabin wall asks for 3 dl flour, 1 tsk salt and 2 krm cardamom, and the forecast promises “frisk vind, 10 m/s” on the day you planned to paddle. Each of these is a fixed conversion, and they are all below. Dates, decimal commas and “29:-” price tags have their own guide to Swedish dates, times and numbers.
The mil: 10 km in speech, never on signs
A Swedish mil is exactly 10 kilometers, about 6.2 English miles. It has been since 1889, when Sweden and Norway went metric and redefined the old mil of about 10.7 km. Half of it, 5 km, has its own word: en halvmil.
| Swedes say | It means |
|---|---|
| en mil | 10 km |
| en halvmil | 5 km |
| tre mil | 30 km |
| “nio milen” (Vasaloppet) | 90 km |
You will hear the mil constantly, and you will never see it on a road sign. The signs ordinance requires distances on direction signs to be given in whole kilometers, and speed limits are set in km/h: 50 in built-up areas, 70 elsewhere, up to 110 on ordinary roads and 120 on some motorways. Our guides to driving in Sweden and Swedish speed limits cover the rest.
The mil also survives in sport and tax. Vasaloppet calls its 90 km course “nio milen”, the nine mil, and Skatteverket, the tax agency, sets car allowances in kronor per mil.
Warning: “5 mil” is 50 km, not 5 miles. Plan fuel, charging and daylight on the kilometer figure, especially in the north where stations are far apart.
Fuel use: liters per mil vs liters per 100 km
In everyday Swedish, fuel consumption is given per mil: “0,7 liter milen” means 0.7 liters every 10 km, which is 7 liters per 100 km. Multiply by ten and you have the international figure.
New-car brochures and dealer ads do it the international way. Konsumentverket’s guidance for car marketing says fuel use should be stated in liters per 100 km with one decimal, and CO₂ in grams per km. A private seller or a friend will still talk in mil.
| You hear or read | Liters per 100 km |
|---|---|
| 0,5 l/mil | 5.0 |
| 0,7 l/mil (“sju deciliter milen”) | 7.0 |
| 0,9 l/mil | 9.0 |
The rule of thumb: a fuel figure under 2 is per mil. Read “0,6” as l/100 km and the car looks ten times more economical than it is, and your road-trip fuel budget is wrong before you start. For the pumps themselves, see paying at Swedish fuel stations.
Recipes: dl, msk, tsk and krm
Swedish recipes measure by volume with fixed measures, not cups. Measuring sets in Swedish supermarkets come in exactly these sizes, plus a half deciliter.
| Abbreviation | Swedish | Volume | Nearest US measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| krm | kryddmått (spice measure) | 1 ml | ⅕ tsp |
| tsk | tesked (teaspoon) | 5 ml | 1 tsp |
| msk | matsked (tablespoon) | 15 ml | 1 tbsp |
| dl | deciliter | 100 ml | about 0.4 cup |
Flour and sugar are usually given in dl, while butter and yeast are weighed in grams. A US cup is about 2.4 dl, so a cup is not a deciliter. Older family recipes may use a kaffekopp (1.5 dl) or a glas (2 dl). Australian tablespoons are 20 ml, so recipes from there do not convert one to one.
Ovens are in degrees Celsius, often written with just a degree sign: “225°”. When a recipe adds a second, lower figure marked varmluft, that one is for a fan oven. Try it on kanelbullar, or read our guide to cooking in a Swedish rental kitchen.
Warning: spoons are measures, not cutlery. A dessert spoon for 1 msk or a coffee spoon for 1 tsk can be off by a third or more, and salt or baking powder mistakes ruin a bake.
Weather: wind in meters per second
SMHI, Sweden’s weather service, gives wind speed in meters per second. Multiply by 3.6 for km/h, or roughly double it for knots. Temperatures are in degrees Celsius.
| SMHI term | m/s | km/h |
|---|---|---|
| svag vind (light) | up to 3.3 | up to 11 |
| måttlig vind (moderate) | 3.4–7.9 | 12–28 |
| frisk vind (fresh) | 8.0–13.8 | 29–49 |
| hård vind (strong; kuling, gale, at sea) | 13.9–24.4 | 50–88 |
| storm | 24.5–32.6 | 89–117 |
| orkan (hurricane force) | 32.7 and up | 118 and up |
Warning: 10 m/s is already 36 km/h, and 14 m/s is a gale at sea. Read m/s as km/h and a forecast looks less than a third as strong, which is how kayakers end up in wind they cannot handle. See also SMHI weather warnings.
At sea and in the air, the units change again: nautical miles (sjömil) and knots are legal there by international agreement, so a boat chart or ferry timetable is not in km.
Shop prices: hg and the per-kilo jämförpris
Pick-and-mix sweets, cheese and deli counters often price per hectogram, 100 grams, written kr/hg. Multiply by ten for the kilo price: 9,90 kr/hg is 99 kr per kilo. Weighed at the till, a scoop costs ten times the posted figure per kilo.
The shelf label’s jämförpris (comparison price) is different: by law it must be given per kilo, liter, meter, piece or use, and no other unit is allowed for it. It is the number to compare across brands and pack sizes; our guide to the jämförpris on price labels explains it in full.
What the law says about units
Swedish law requires measurements used in trade, health, safety and administration to be in SI units, or units approved for use with them. Swedac, the accreditation agency, keeps the list.
- Legal: meters and kilometers, liters and deciliters, grams, hectograms and kilograms, tonnes, degrees Celsius. Deci and hekto are ordinary SI prefixes.
- Not legal: the mil. It is missing from both the Swedish list and the EU’s list of legal units.
- Allowed as an extra: a non-metric figure beside the legal one, as long as the metric figure dominates, so a product may show inches beside centimeters.
- Exempt: aviation, shipping and rail may use units set by international agreements.
That is why scales, pumps and signs are metric, while the mil lives on in speech, sport and the tax agency’s per-mil allowance.
Mistakes to avoid
- Converting mil as miles. One mil is 10 km, about 6.2 miles.
- Expecting mil on road signs. Signs show km only.
- Treating 1 dl as 1 cup. A US cup is about 2.4 dl.
- Setting a fan oven to the conventional temperature. Use the varmluft figure when one is given.
- Reading SMHI’s wind numbers as km/h. They are m/s; multiply by 3.6.
- Comparing pack prices instead of the per-kilo jämförpris.
If someone gives you a distance in mil and you would rather think in kilometers, just ask “hur många kilometer?” (how many kilometers?). Every Swede can switch.
Practical information
| What | Conversion | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 mil | 10 km (about 6.2 miles) | Speech, sport, tax; never on signs |
| Liters per mil | × 10 = l/100 km | Brochures use l/100 km |
| 1 dl / 1 msk / 1 tsk / 1 krm | 100 / 15 / 5 / 1 ml | US cup ≈ 2.4 dl |
| Oven “225° eller 200° varmluft” | °C; lower figure for a fan oven | |
| Wind in m/s | × 3.6 = km/h; × 2 ≈ knots | SMHI: storm from 24.5 m/s |
| kr/hg | × 10 = kr/kg | Shelf jämförpris is per kilo |
| Speed limits | km/h: 50 town, 70 base, up to 110/120 | |
| Skatteverket mileage allowance | Set yearly in kronor per mil | Check Skatteverket for the current amount |
FAQ
How long is a Swedish mil in kilometers?
A Swedish mil is exactly 10 kilometers, about 6.2 English miles. It has been 10 km since Sweden went metric in 1889; before that it was roughly 10.7 km. Swedes still use it in conversation, so “tre mil” means 30 km, and en halvmil is 5 km. Road signs never show mil, only kilometers, so trust the sign when the two seem to disagree.
What does “liter per mil” mean for a car?
It is fuel consumption per 10 km. Multiply by ten to get the international liters per 100 km: 0,7 liters per mil is 7 l/100 km. Swedes say “sju deciliter milen” for the same thing. New-car brochures and dealer ads use liters per 100 km, as Konsumentverket’s guidance recommends, so convert before comparing a seller’s claim with official figures.
What are dl, msk, tsk and krm in Swedish recipes?
They are fixed volume measures. 1 dl (deciliter) is 100 ml, 1 msk (matsked) is 15 ml, 1 tsk (tesked) is 5 ml and 1 krm (kryddmått) is 1 ml. Swedish recipes usually measure flour and sugar in dl and butter in grams. Swedish supermarkets sell measuring sets in exactly these sizes, which is easier than guessing with cutlery.
How do I convert cups to deciliters?
One US cup is about 2.4 deciliters (237 to 240 ml), so 2 cups is roughly 4.75 dl. A US tablespoon and teaspoon are close enough to the Swedish msk and tsk for cooking. Australian tablespoons are 20 ml, though. For baking, weighing flour in grams is the most reliable way to move a recipe between the two systems.
Why does the Swedish weather forecast give wind in m/s?
SMHI, Sweden’s weather service, states wind speed in meters per second. Multiply by 3.6 for km/h or roughly double it for knots. SMHI calls 8 to 13.8 m/s fresh wind and 13.9 m/s or more strong wind, a gale at sea. Storm starts at 24.5 m/s and hurricane force at 32.7 m/s. Kayakers and sailors should read the m/s figure carefully.
Are speed limits in Sweden in km/h or mph?
Kilometers per hour. Sweden’s default limits are 50 km/h in built-up areas and 70 km/h elsewhere, with signs setting other limits up to 110 km/h, or 120 km/h on some motorways. A car from the UK or US should be read on its km/h scale. Distances on direction signs are likewise in whole kilometers, never in mil.
What does kr/hg mean on sweets and deli food?
It means kronor per hectogram, that is per 100 grams. Multiply by ten for the kilo price: 9,90 kr/hg is 99 kr per kilo. Pick-and-mix sweets, cheese and deli counters often price this way. The shelf label’s legally required comparison price, the jämförpris, is still given per kilo, so you can compare across shops.
Related guides
- Swedish dates, times and numbers — decimal commas, “29:-” prices and halv tre
- The jämförpris on price labels — the per-kilo figure that tells you what is really cheaper
- Driving in Sweden — the rules behind the km/h signs
- Kanelbullar and Swedish baking — put your dl and tsk to work
- SMHI weather warnings — when the m/s figures turn yellow, orange or red
Facts verified 2026-10-06. Sources: Sveriges Riksdag (the units act, the signs ordinance and the traffic ordinance), Swedac, Konsumentverket, SMHI and Skatteverket — full register in this topic’s source file. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.