In 2023, approximately 988,943 people lived in Stockholm, making it not only the capital, but also the biggest city in Sweden. The second biggest city, Gothenburg (Göteborg) had about half as many inhabitants, with about 596,840 people. Move to the citySweden is a country with a very high urbanization rate, the likes of which is usually only seen in countries with large uninhabitable areas, such as Australia, or in nations with very little rural landscape and agrarian structures, like Cuba. So why do so few Swedes live in rural areas, even though based on total area, the country is one of the largest in Europe? The total population figures are the answer to this question, as Sweden has only about 10.3 million inhabitants as of 2018 – that’s only 25 inhabitants per square kilometer. Rural exodus or just par for the course?It is no mystery why most Swedes flock to the cities: Jobs, of course. Over 65 percent of Sweden’s gross domestic product is generated by the services sector, and agriculture only contributes about one percent to the GDP. Employment mirrors this, with 80 percent of the workforce being deployed in services, namely in foreign trade, telecommunications, and manufacturing, among other industries.

Sweden SE: Population in Largest City data was reported at 1,553,180.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 1,523,953.000 Person for 2016. Sweden SE: Population in Largest City data is updated yearly, averaging 1,058,018.000 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,553,180.000 Person in 2017 and a record low of 804,595.000 Person in 1960. Sweden SE: Population in Largest City data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Sweden – Table SE.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population in largest city is the urban population living in the country's largest metropolitan area.; ; United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.; ;

Population in the largest city (% of urban population) in Sweden was reported at 18.26 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Sweden - Population in the largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Sweden SE: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data was reported at 17.703 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 17.683 % for 2016. Sweden SE: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data is updated yearly, averaging 15.683 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 17.703 % in 2017 and a record low of 14.346 % in 1981. Sweden SE: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Sweden – Table SE.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population in largest city is the percentage of a country's urban population living in that country's largest metropolitan area.; ; United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.; Weighted average;

Of the total population in Sweden of 10.55 million people, around half resided in the counties Stockholm, Västra Götaland or Skåne. This is also the three counties where the three largest cities in Sweden, Stockholm, Göteborg, and Malmö, are located. In the capital region Stockholm county, there lived nearly 2.5 million inhabitants in 2023. Västra Götaland county had close to 1.8 million inhabitants, while Skåne county, the southernmost region, had roughly 1.4 million inhabitants. The island Gotland had the lowest number of inhabitants with only 60,000.

The highest population density

Stockholm, Skåne and Västra Götaland were also the three counties in Sweden with the highest population density. In 2022, 374.6 inhabitants per square kilometer lived in Stockholm county, while the corresponding figures for Skåne and Västra Götaland were 129 and 73.9, respectively.

The highest rents

Unsurprisingly. Stockholm county is the county in Sweden with the highest rents for rented dwellings, with average prices for one square meter amounting to over 1,400 Swedish kronor in 2022. The lowest average renting prices were in the northwestern region Jämtland, one square meter costing 1,000 Swedish kronor.

This horizontal bar chart displays birth rate (per 1,000 people) by capital city using the aggregation average, weighted by population in Sweden. The data is about countries per year.

This horizontal bar chart displays death rate (per 1,000 people) by capital city using the aggregation average, weighted by population in Sweden. The data is about countries per year.

Stockholm is the Capital of Sweden and in 2023, close to 985,000 people lived in the municipality. Since 2010, the population there has been growing consistently. While more people are moving to Stockholm, the city area is not growing at the same speed, leading the population density to increase as well. Forecasts for the city expect continuous growth of population over the next forty years.

Economy

In Stockholm, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita was around 734,000 Swedish kronor in 2021. That was much higher than the average GDP per capita in all of Sweden with around 517,000 SEK in 2021. Though it must be noted that living costs are very high in the city and have been increasing in the last years. For example, the average rent per square meter in Stockholm has been rising every single year.

Employment A high majority of people living in Stockholm have a workplace. The employment rate in Stockholm is at 73.6 percent as of 2021.  The sector with the highest number of employees in Stockholm is professional, scientific, technical, and administrative activities, followed by wholesale and retail trade.

Shared mobility fleets in Swedish cities were dominated by scooters in 2022. Helsingborg has one of the largest scooter fleets by population, with 157 scooters per 10,000 inhabitants as well as 23 free-floating bikes per 10,000 inhabitants.

Abstract

The World Values Survey (www.worldvaluessurvey.org) is a global network of social scientists studying changing values and their impact on social and political life, led by an international team of scholars, with the WVS association and secretariat headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. The survey, which started in 1981, seeks to use the most rigorous, high-quality research designs in each country. The WVS consists of nationally representative surveys conducted in almost 100 countries which contain almost 90 percent of the world’s population, using a common questionnaire. The WVS is the largest non-commercial, cross-national, time series investigation of human beliefs and values ever executed, currently including interviews with almost 400,000 respondents. Moreover the WVS is the only academic study covering the full range of global variations, from very poor to very rich countries, in all of the world’s major cultural zones. The WVS seeks to help scientists and policy makers understand changes in the beliefs, values and motivations of people throughout the world. Thousands of political scientists, sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists and economists have used these data to analyze such topics as economic development, democratization, religion, gender equality, social capital, and subjective well-being. These data have also been widely used by government officials, journalists and students, and groups at the World Bank have analyzed the linkages between cultural factors and economic development.

Geographic coverage

The Survey covers Sweden.

Analysis unit

• Household
• Individual

Universe

The WVS for Sweden covers national population, aged 18 year and over, for both sexes.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Random sample from the Swedish population register The sample for this research has been drawn with the following criterias: We divided the number of sampling points by population figures in NUTS 2 areas. After that we selected the largest city in each NUTS 2 area, then we randomly (by computer) selected the designated number of sampling points in each NUTS 2 area based on the population figures provided by SCB. Our sampling program assigns random numbers to settlements, than rank orders it by this random number and it chooses the i.e. 6 uppermost town and/or village from the complete listing with in each area. This method has given us 60 sampling points that is spread statistically correct across Sweden. The number of conducted interviews is also statistically divided amongst the 60 selected citys in the sample so that the 60 sampling points is representative for whole Sweden. The selection of respondents is made by computerised random selection from the Swedish population registry, and is stratified according to size of the city. The designated number of respondents with in each one of the sampling points is separately drawn from this registry. All statistical information is collected from SCB, and are dated 2004.

Remarks about sampling: Slight skewness if ages groups 45 and above. In a first stage, 60 probabilty sampling units were selected. For each of these, a random sample of respondents were then sampled from the population register. The selection of PSUs was based on a representative stratification over region and population size. A slight underrepresentation of those aged 46 55, a slight overrepresentation of those aged 56-65, a sligt underrepresentation of those aged 66-75. Persons older than 85 were not included.

The sample size for Sweden is N=1003 and includes national population, aged 18 years and over, for both sexes.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Swedish

Response rate

Total number of starting names/addresses 2230 Addresses which could not be traced at all 187 Selected respondent too sick/incapacitated to participate 252 Selected respondent away during survey period 82 Selected respondent had inadequate understanding of language of survey 53 No contact with selected person 95 Personal refusal by selected respondent 558 Full productive interview 1003

Sampling error estimates

+/- 3,2%

In this file there are statistics for a number of variables broken down by Malmö’s different areas over time. Source Unless otherwise stated, the statistics in this database are retrieved from Statistics Sweden’s (SCB) regional database, Skånedatabasen or from Statistics Sweden’s area statistics database (OSDB).The Skåne database and OSDB show data from several different sources that Statistics Sweden has compiled on a geographical level. The statistics only cover persons who are part of the population registered in the population.Therefore, persons without a residence permit, such as asylum seekers, and persons who simply have not registered in the municipality are not included. Statistics Sweden does not provide statistics on which language residents speak, which religion you belong to or what ethnicity or political views you have. Therefore, such data is not available here either. However, the Electoral Authority reports election results per constituency on its website val.se. There are statistics from the last election as well as several previous elections available. Please note, however, that the constituencies do not necessarily follow the division of the city made here. Update The data is updated every spring as Statistics Sweden releases the figures to the municipality. Most variables are available for the year before. However, income and employment data are released with another year’s backlog. Unless otherwise stated, the date of measurement is 31 December of each year. Geographical breakdown Unless otherwise stated, the data is available for Malmö as a whole and broken down into urban areas (5 pieces), districts (10 pieces) and subareas (136 pieces). In addition to these, there is a residual post that contains the people who are not written in a specific place in the municipality, have protected identity and more. These people are also part of the total. In several of the subareas there are no or only a few registered population registers. Therefore, no data are reported for these areas. Examples of such sub-areas are parks such as Pildammsparken and Kroksbäcksparken and industrial areas such as Fosieby Industriområde and Spillepengen. Privacy clearance In order to protect the identity of individuals, the data is confidentially audited. This means that small values are suppressed, i.e. replaced by empty cells. However, the values are included in summaries. In general, the following rules apply: * No statistics are reported for geographical areas with very few housing. * No cells with fewer than 5 individuals are reported. For data classified as sensitive (e.g. income and country of birth), larger values can also be suppressed. * In cases where a subcategory (e.g. a training category) is too small to be accounted for, all categories are often suppressed. Please use the numbers, but use “City Office, Malmö City” as the source.

SE：最大城市人口占城市总人口的百分比在12-01-2017达17.703%，相较于12-01-2016的17.683%有所增长。SE：最大城市人口占城市总人口的百分比数据按年更新，12-01-1960至12-01-2017期间平均值为15.683%，共58份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于12-01-2017，达17.703%，而历史最低值则出现于12-01-1981，为14.346%。CEIC提供的SE：最大城市人口占城市总人口的百分比数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于World Bank，数据归类于Global Database的瑞典 – 表 SE.世界银行：人口和城市化进程统计。

SE：最大城市人口在12-01-2017达1,553,180.000人，相较于12-01-2016的1,523,953.000人有所增长。SE：最大城市人口数据按年更新，12-01-1960至12-01-2017期间平均值为1,058,018.000人，共58份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于12-01-2017，达1,553,180.000人，而历史最低值则出现于12-01-1960，为804,595.000人。CEIC提供的SE：最大城市人口数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于World Bank，数据归类于全球数据库的瑞典 – 表 SE.世行.WDI：人口和城市化进程统计。

In this file there are statistics for a number of variables broken down by Malmö’s different areas over time. Source Unless otherwise stated, the statistics in this database are retrieved from Statistics Sweden’s (SCB) regional database, Skånedatabasen or from Statistics Sweden’s area statistics database (OSDB). The Skåne database and OSDB show data from several different sources that Statistics Sweden has compiled on a geographical level. The statistics only cover persons who are part of the population registered in the population. Therefore, persons without a residence permit, such as asylum seekers, and persons who simply have not registered in the municipality are not included.Statistics Sweden does not provide statistics on which language residents speak, which religion you belong to or what ethnicity or political views you have. Therefore, such data is not available here either. However, the Electoral Authority reports election results per constituency on its website val.se.There are statistics from the last election as well as several previous elections available. Please note, however, that the constituencies do not necessarily follow the division of the city made here. Update The data is updated every spring as Statistics Sweden releases the figures to the municipality. Most variables are available for the year before. However, income and employment data are released with another year’s backlog. Unless otherwise stated, the date of measurement is 31 December of each year. Geographical breakdown Unless otherwise stated, the data is available for Malmö as a whole and broken down into urban areas (5 pieces), districts (10 pieces) and subareas (136 pieces). In addition to these, there is a residual post that contains the people who are not written in a specific place in the municipality, have protected identity and more. These people are also part of the total.In several of the subareas there are no or only a few registered population registers. Therefore, no data are reported for these areas. Examples of such sub-areas are parks such as Pildammsparken and Kroksbäcksparken and industrial areas such as Fosieby Industriområde and Spillepengen. Privacy clearance In order to protect the identity of individuals, the data is confidentially audited. This means that small values are suppressed, i.e. replaced by empty cells.However, the values are included in summaries. In general, the following rules apply: * No statistics are reported for geographical areas with very few housing. * No cells with fewer than 5 individuals are reported. For data classified as sensitive (e.g. income and country of birth), larger values can also be suppressed. * In cases where a subcategory (e.g. a training category) is too small to be accounted for, all categories are often suppressed. Please use the numbers, but use “City Office, Malmö City” as the source.

In this file there are statistics for a number of variables broken down by Malmö’s different areas over time. Source Unless otherwise stated, the statistics in this database are retrieved from Statistics Sweden’s (SCB) regional database, Skånedatabasen or from Statistics Sweden’s area statistics database (OSDB). The Skåne database and OSDB show data from several different sources that Statistics Sweden has compiled on a geographical level. The statistics only cover persons who are part of the population registered in the population. Therefore, persons without a residence permit, such as asylum seekers, and persons who simply have not registered in the municipality are not included. Statistics Sweden does not provide statistics on which language residents speak, which religion you belong to or what ethnicity or political views you have. Therefore, such data is not available here either. However, the Electoral Authority reports election results per constituency on its website val.se. There are statistics from the last election as well as several previous elections available. Please note, however, that the constituencies do not necessarily follow the division of the city made here. Update The data is updated every spring as Statistics Sweden releases the figures to the municipality. Most variables are available for the year before. However, income and employment data are released with another year’s backlog. Unless otherwise stated, the date of measurement is 31 December of each year. Geographical breakdown Unless otherwise stated, the data is available for Malmö as a whole and broken down into urban areas (5 pieces), districts (10 pieces) and subareas (136 pieces). In addition to these, there is a residual post that contains the people who are not written in a specific place in the municipality, have protected identity and more. These people are also part of the total. In several of the subareas there are no or only a few registered population registers. Therefore, no data are reported for these areas. Examples of such sub-areas are parks such as Pildammsparken and Kroksbäcksparken and industrial areas such as Fosieby Industriområde and Spillepengen. Privacy clearance In order to protect the identity of individuals, the data is confidentially audited. This means that small values are suppressed, i.e. replaced by empty cells. However, the values are included in summaries. In general, the following rules apply: * No statistics are reported for geographical areas with very few housing. * No cells with fewer than 5 individuals are reported. For data classified as sensitive (e.g. income and country of birth), larger values can also be suppressed. * In cases where a subcategory (e.g. a training category) is too small to be accounted for, all categories are often suppressed. Please use the numbers, but use “City Office, Malmö City” as the source.

The Swedish capital Stockholm has the largest population of the five Nordic capitals with 2.46 million inhabitants. This is unsurprising as Sweden also is the Nordic country with the largest population. The capital area of Copenhagen is slightly larger than that of Helsinki, whereas Iceland's capital Reykjavik had the smallest population with 244,000 inhabitants. Oslo's rapid population decline in 2024 is explained by only the numbers for Oslo municipality being reported.

Based on a comparison of coronavirus deaths in 210 countries relative to their population, Peru had the most losses to COVID-19 up until July 13, 2022. As of the same date, the virus had infected over 557.8 million people worldwide, and the number of deaths had totaled more than 6.3 million. Note, however, that COVID-19 test rates can vary per country. Additionally, big differences show up between countries when combining the number of deaths against confirmed COVID-19 cases. The source seemingly does not differentiate between "the Wuhan strain" (2019-nCOV) of COVID-19, "the Kent mutation" (B.1.1.7) that appeared in the UK in late 2020, the 2021 Delta variant (B.1.617.2) from India or the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) from South Africa.

The difficulties of death figures

This table aims to provide a complete picture on the topic, but it very much relies on data that has become more difficult to compare. As the coronavirus pandemic developed across the world, countries already used different methods to count fatalities, and they sometimes changed them during the course of the pandemic. On April 16, for example, the Chinese city of Wuhan added a 50 percent increase in their death figures to account for community deaths. These deaths occurred outside of hospitals and went unaccounted for so far. The state of New York did something similar two days before, revising their figures with 3,700 new deaths as they started to include “assumed” coronavirus victims. The United Kingdom started counting deaths in care homes and private households on April 29, adjusting their number with about 5,000 new deaths (which were corrected lowered again by the same amount on August 18). This makes an already difficult comparison even more difficult. Belgium, for example, counts suspected coronavirus deaths in their figures, whereas other countries have not done that (yet). This means two things. First, it could have a big impact on both current as well as future figures. On April 16 already, UK health experts stated that if their numbers were corrected for community deaths like in Wuhan, the UK number would change from 205 to “above 300”. This is exactly what happened two weeks later. Second, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly which countries already have “revised” numbers (like Belgium, Wuhan or New York) and which ones do not. One work-around could be to look at (freely accessible) timelines that track the reported daily increase of deaths in certain countries. Several of these are available on our platform, such as for Belgium, Italy and Sweden. A sudden large increase might be an indicator that the domestic sources changed their methodology.

Where are these numbers coming from?

The numbers shown here were collected by Johns Hopkins University, a source that manually checks the data with domestic health authorities. For the majority of countries, this is from national authorities. In some cases, like China, the United States, Canada or Australia, city reports or other various state authorities were consulted. In this statistic, these separately reported numbers were put together. For more information or other freely accessible content, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

People between 25 and 34 years made up the largest age group in the Swedish Capital of Stockholm in 2022. There were nearly 180,000 people of this age living in the city. 35 to 44-year-old people made up the second largest age group. In total, there were 984,748 people living in Stockholm that year.

In the fall semester of 2023, 383,000 students were registered in universities and other higher education institutions in Sweden. The number of students remained relatively stable until 2018, and rose sharply in 2020 as many chose to take up studies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Around 60 percent of the higher education students in Sweden are women. Financial aid for studies Sweden has a long tradition of state financial aid for students. Swedish students can apply for both student grants and loans at a low interest rate, or apply only for subsidies but no loans. The financial aid for students is managed by the Swedish Board of Student Finance (CSN). In 2021, more than 207,000 students in Sweden received both subsidies and loans. Moreover, there are no tuition fees at universities and high schools in Sweden. Stockholm largest university The Stockholm University had the highest number of registered students in Sweden in 2022, followed by the Uppsala University and the University of Gothenburg. Stockholm University is ranked among the world’s top 100 universities and located in the Swedish capital, which is also the largest city in Sweden.

The Great Northern War was a major conflict in Europe at the beginning of the eighteenth century, and saw Russia defeat Sweden to become the strongest power in the Baltic region, and emerge as one of the continent's most powerful empires. One of the often-overlooked components of the war was a plague outbreak that killed tens of thousands of people during the war, and also impacted each army's ability to reinforce their numbers or to hold positions in infected towns and villages. Some cities are estimated to have lost more than half of their population during this epidemic, particularly along the coast between modern-day Poland and Estonia; the outbreaks experienced along the Baltic coast during the Great Northern War were sometimes larger and deadlier than the outbreaks experienced during the Black Death. While it is impossible for modern historians to differentiate the extent to which the deaths were due to plague, famine or other diseases during the war, it is generally agreed that bubonic plague was the chief culprit among these causes. This outbreak is just one example of many, which highlights how war has facilitated the outbreak of various epidemics throughout history, other examples include the Great Smallpox Pandemic of the 1870s, or the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918.