Number of people living in extreme poverty in Sweden
Sweden: Number of people living in extreme poverty was 10.45 million people in 2023. ▲ Rising
Latest (2023)
10.45 million people
Change on year
up 0.9%
World rank
62nd
of 120 countries
All-time high
10.45 million people
in 2023
All-time low
8.15 million people
in 1975
Years of data
29
1975–2023
Number of people living in extreme poverty in Sweden, 1975–2023
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.
Analysis
Sweden recorded 10.45 million people for number of people living in extreme poverty in 2023. That is the highest value across all 29 years on record.
The figure is up 0.9% on the previous year and up 9.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of people living in extreme poverty in Sweden peaked at 10.45 million people in 2023 and was at its lowest, 8.15 million people, in 1975.
That places Sweden 62nd out of 120 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 29 years of available data.
Number of people living in extreme poverty in Sweden, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 8.15 million people | — |
| 1981 | 8.29 million people | +1.7% |
| 1987 | 8.38 million people | +1.1% |
| 1992 | 8.65 million people | +3.2% |
| 1995 | 8.78 million people | +1.5% |
| 2000 | 8.86 million people | +0.9% |
| 2001 | 8.88 million people | +0.2% |
| 2002 | 8.92 million people | +0.4% |
| 2003 | 8.93 million people | +0.1% |
| 2004 | 8.95 million people | +0.3% |
| 2005 | 8.93 million people | -0.3% |
| 2006 | 9.04 million people | +1.3% |
| 2007 | 9.11 million people | +0.7% |
| 2008 | 9.16 million people | +0.6% |
| 2009 | 9.25 million people | +1.0% |
| 2010 | 9.32 million people | +0.7% |
| 2011 | 9.39 million people | +0.7% |
| 2012 | 9.47 million people | +0.9% |
| 2013 | 9.54 million people | +0.7% |
| 2014 | 9.65 million people | +1.1% |
| 2015 | 9.74 million people | +0.9% |
| 2016 | 9.88 million people | +1.5% |
| 2017 | 10.03 million people | +1.5% |
| 2018 | 10.09 million people | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 10.24 million people | +1.5% |
| 2020 | 10.31 million people | +0.6% |
| 2021 | 10.35 million people | +0.4% |
| 2022 | 10.35 million people | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 10.45 million people | +0.9% |
Sweden compared with similar countries
- Sweden's 10.45 million people is above the median for high income countries, which is 9.58 million people, 1.1× the median. (42 countries reporting)
- Sweden's 10.45 million people is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 8.39 million people, 1.2× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 8.15 million people | 8.15 million people | 8.15 million people | 1 |
| 1980s | 8.33 million people | 8.29 million people | 8.38 million people | 2 |
| 1990s | 8.72 million people | 8.65 million people | 8.78 million people | 2 |
| 2000s | 9.00 million people | 8.86 million people | 9.25 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 9.73 million people | 9.32 million people | 10.24 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 10.36 million people | 10.31 million people | 10.45 million people | 4 |
Countries ranked near Sweden
More poverty & inequality data for Sweden
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 8 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.43 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 4,456 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -27.03 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 41.37 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 41.4% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of people living in extreme poverty in Sweden?
- Number of people living in extreme poverty in Sweden was 10.45 million people in 2023, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest number of people living in extreme poverty recorded in Sweden?
- The highest recorded value was 10.45 million people in 2023.
- What is the lowest number of people living in extreme poverty recorded in Sweden?
- The lowest recorded value was 8.15 million people in 1975.
- How does Sweden rank for number of people living in extreme poverty?
- Sweden ranks 62nd out of 120 countries with data for 2023.
- Is number of people living in extreme poverty rising or falling in Sweden?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sweden data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of people living in extreme poverty. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 29 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of people living in households with an income or consumption above $3 per day.