Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Sweden
Sweden: Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median was 11.0% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Sweden, 1975–2023
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Sweden is 11.0%, measured in 2023.
That represents a change of down 3.7% on the previous year and up 8.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Sweden peaked at 11.4% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 5.2%, in 1987.
That places Sweden 65th 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.
Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Sweden, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 5.3% | — |
| 1981 | 6.5% | +22.6% |
| 1987 | 5.2% | -20.0% |
| 1992 | 6.2% | +19.2% |
| 1995 | 6.9% | +11.3% |
| 2000 | 6.0% | -13.0% |
| 2001 | 5.5% | -8.3% |
| 2002 | 6.3% | +14.5% |
| 2003 | 7.2% | +15.1% |
| 2004 | 6.8% | -5.6% |
| 2005 | 8.5% | +24.9% |
| 2006 | 7.3% | -14.3% |
| 2007 | 8.2% | +11.4% |
| 2008 | 8.9% | +8.8% |
| 2009 | 9.2% | +3.5% |
| 2010 | 8.9% | -3.5% |
| 2011 | 9.4% | +5.5% |
| 2012 | 9.6% | +2.1% |
| 2013 | 10.1% | +5.9% |
| 2014 | 9.3% | -8.5% |
| 2015 | 9.6% | +3.5% |
| 2016 | 10.4% | +8.2% |
| 2017 | 10.1% | -2.5% |
| 2018 | 10.8% | +6.5% |
| 2019 | 10.2% | -5.1% |
| 2020 | 10.1% | -1.4% |
| 2021 | 11.1% | +9.9% |
| 2022 | 11.4% | +2.9% |
| 2023 | 11.0% | -3.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 5.3% | 5.3% | 5.3% | 1 |
| 1980s | 5.8% | 5.2% | 6.5% | 2 |
| 1990s | 6.6% | 6.2% | 6.9% | 2 |
| 2000s | 7.4% | 5.5% | 9.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 9.8% | 8.9% | 10.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 10.9% | 10.1% | 11.4% | 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 relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Sweden?
- Relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Sweden was 11.0% in 2023, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median recorded in Sweden?
- The highest recorded value was 11.4% in 2022.
- What is the lowest relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median recorded in Sweden?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.2% in 1987.
- How does Sweden rank for relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median?
- Sweden ranks 65th out of 120 countries with data for 2023.
- Is relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median rising or falling in Sweden?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.5%. 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 Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median. 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
Percentage of population living in households with an income or consumption below 50% of the median.