Soil erosion, sediment transport and deposition in river systems in Sweden are discussed. The database consists of observations from a research project and from the Swedish network for the measurement of sediment transport. Examples are given from measurements in small plots, and from river basins of different sizes and characteristics. Effects of hydrological regime, of deposition in lakes, and of geology and human impact are illustrated. It was found that observations of erosion losses in index plots cannot easily be extrapolated to large areas, and that trends of transport most likely reflect trends in runoff.