A robot will replace one in two of your colleagues within 20 years.

In the past five years, almost half a million jobs have vanished due to automation in Sweden, says Stefan Flster, head of the libertarian think thank Reforminstitutet.

The pace is accelerating faster than many economists could expect.

According to a report, carried out by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Science, this would imply that more than half, or around 2,5 million jobs, will vanish form the labour market in Sweden - arguably a representative picture of any given developing nation. No wonder then, that robot taxes are already a hot topic (and a bad idea according to Flster, as it would in effect be a tax on exports).

It seems like todays professionals are underestimating the approaching revolution. A post, published on the Bank of Englands staff blog, cited by Bloomberg, concludes that the risks associated with the fourth industrial revolution likely are being dismissed too lightly.

Its a common perception that machines are likely to keep on replacing jobs in manufacturing, warehouses and agriculture. But what's become clear through recent years' technological advancements, is that robots will be replacing a lot of human traits.

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Jobs within health care and retail are especially endangered; hundreds of thousands of them are to vanish in Sweden in the next two decades.

Other at risk professions, accordingSwedish Foundation for Strategic Science's report, areaccounting assistants and high-skilled professions like economists and engineers.

People working within fields that require originality, artistic qualities, social skills, negotiating, persuasion, and emotional intelligence are the least likely to find themselves replaced by machines.

The risk for being replaced by a digital technology in the next 20 years, according toSwedish Foundation for Strategic Science:

- Photo Model: 98 percent - Accountancy assistant: 97 percent - Engineer: 56 percent - Economist/Businessman: 46 percent

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Swedish economist says half of all jobs will be eliminated by automation within two decades and 98 percent of models - Business Insider Nordic