Since when is $1500 a lot of money for a laptop? Given the storage and RAM, Apple would ask more like double for something like this. Of course, while looking better (although this is subjective). Consider the price of the 15 inch model [FA506] at about $1100 versus the price of the basic MBP 16, about $2900 in the EU. Both have a 6 core CPU, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD and a dGPU with 4 GB VRAM. $1500 buys you the cheapest 4 core MacBook Air (with about $150 to spare, which is not enough for a RAM or storage upgrade [about 270 each], leaving you with 8/256), but not much else.
I imagine that the value is a simple conversion so it includes all of the taxes (like VAT, import), fees (like recyclation) and extra expenses (like 2 year comprehensive warranty as minimum) common in the EU. Sweden is not known for low taxes and cheap living. VAT alone is 25 %.