In this article we estimate the long-rundevelopment of genuine savings in Sweden during the period 1850 to 2000. Bydoing so we are able to present a first analysis of long-run sustainabledevelopment during a single country’s transition to modern economic growth ratesand high income levels. We find that genuine savings may have been negative upuntil c. 1910. This suggests a period of transition to positive genuine savings in conjunction with or even preceding the transition to modern economic rates.Important contributions to the transition were increasing investments in humancapital, improved sanitary conditions, reduced depletion of forests andaccelerated investments in machinery and infrastructure.