The labour market in Sweden saw rising unemployment and a decline in overall employment last year, new data from Statistics Sweden (SCB) has found.
According to SCB’s latest Labour Force Survey, the number of employed persons aged 15–74 decreased by 29,000 compared to 2023, reaching a total of 5,241,000.
The employment rate fell by 0.4 percentage points to 69% last year, while the number in temporary employment decreased by 62,000.
At the same time, the number of unemployed individuals increased by 41,000, to 480,000. This led to a 0.7-percentage-point increase in unemployment rate last year, to 8.4%.
Weaker labour market
“In 2024, the labour market weakened, marked by rising unemployment and declining overall employment,” commented Philip Krantz, statistician at Statistics Sweden. “While the number of temporary employees decreased, the number of permanent employees saw an increase.”
Overall labour force participation stood at 5,722,000 last year, of which 2,991,000 were men and 2,730,000 were women.
Among men, the participation rate was 77.4%, while among women, it was 73.1%. Notably, foreign-born individuals had a higher participation rate (78.5%) than Swedish-born individuals (74.2%).
The employment rate of 69% was down from the peak reported in 2023, with the employment rate among men falling by 0.8 percentage points to 71.0% while for women, it stood at 66.8%
Unemployment demographics
Unemployment in Sweden increased across all demographics in 2024, SCB’s data showed. Among Swedish-born individuals, it reached 5.7%, while among foreign-born individuals, it climbed to 16.2%.
Youth unemployment (ages 15–24) stood at 24.3%, an increase of 2.2 percentage points, year-on-year, while the number of long-term unemployed individuals – defined as those unemployed for at least 27 weeks – increased by 24,000 to 152,000.
Employment rates were highest among Sweden’s three largest counties – Stockholm, Västra Götaland, and Skåne.
The employment rate in Stockholm was 73.2% for men, a decrease of 2.0 percentage points, and 70.8% for women, while the unemployment rate in the Swedish capital was 8.1% among men, and 8.5% among women. Read more here.
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