Same in Denmark. It was 15 until recently. We also held the record for teenage drinking for a long time, and still hold "most average alcohol per session" or something.
Yet we are statistically one of the "happiest" countries in the world. And take the most antidepressants!
It's actually quite hard to buy alcohol in Sweden. You can't buy it in a regular supermarket you have to go to a special shop, that is open at different times, etc. And it's expensive.
Expensive is relative.
Systembolaget is so huge that they have incredible deals with certain vendors and makers. I know fo a fact that most single malt whisky from scotland are cheaper to buy from systembolaget as compared to a Tax Free shop abroad.
Beer and (usually)cheap wine however is pretty expensive due to the added alcohol tax.
From what I remember it was even 2,5%. Really bad surprise when you take your first sip in the camping and you just wanted to enjoy a beer after 2 weeks in the wilderness.
Same in Iceland. Was wandering around the supermarket looking for some, and the wife eventually said "no, it's from a special shop". Which was closed. Because why would anybody want to buy alcohol after 5pm?
Went there the next day, the four-pack seemed about the right price so went to buy that, and the wife again went, "no, that's per can". The special shop just splits multipacks.
I can only assume all the alcoholics get their booze via dodgy sources, because there's no way they'd be able to afford to be perma-twatted at those prices.