The group - Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson,
Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad - stormed to the top of the charts
around the world last year with their new album, Voyage.
"This year marks 50 years and over 400
million records sold since ABBA was formed," the government said in a
statement.
"What Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and
Anni-Frid started in 1972 was the first big step in the story of the global
success of Swedish music. Thank you for the music!."
The government noted that ABBA's latest
album Voyage topped the charts in 18 countries, was the year's best-seller in
Germany and reached the band's highest position in the United States.
It was also the fastest selling album in
Britain since the turn of the century.
ABBA shot to international fame after
winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 with the song Waterloo. With hits
like Money, Money, Money, and Dancing Queen they were a global music phenomenon
before they split in the early 1980s as the marriages of the two couples who
made up the band dissolved.
Despite persistent rumours, it took four
decades for the band to reform with the new album born out of a project to
launch a new ABBA concert show - also called Voyage, which features digital
representations of the four band members created by motion-capture technology.
The music export prize was set up in 1997
and is awarded to artists who have been internationally successful, helped
Swedish music exports and contributed to a positive picture of Sweden during
the previous year, according to the government.