Share of population living below national poverty lines in Sweden
Sweden: Share of population living below national poverty lines was 16.1% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Share of population living below national poverty lines in Sweden, 2007–2022
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of population.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of population living below national poverty lines in Sweden is 16.1%, measured in 2022.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.6% on the previous year and up 0.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living below national poverty lines in Sweden peaked at 17.1% in 2018 and was at its lowest, 13.5%, in 2007.
That places Sweden 41st out of 70 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 16 years of available data.
Share of population living below national poverty lines in Sweden, year by year
| Year | % of population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 13.5% | — |
| 2008 | 14.4% | +6.7% |
| 2009 | 14.8% | +2.8% |
| 2010 | 15.4% | +4.1% |
| 2011 | 15.2% | -1.3% |
| 2012 | 16.0% | +5.3% |
| 2013 | 15.6% | -2.5% |
| 2014 | 16.3% | +4.5% |
| 2015 | 16.2% | -0.6% |
| 2016 | 15.8% | -2.5% |
| 2017 | 16.4% | +3.8% |
| 2018 | 17.1% | +4.3% |
| 2019 | 16.1% | -5.8% |
| 2020 | 15.7% | -2.5% |
| 2021 | 16.0% | +1.9% |
| 2022 | 16.1% | +0.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 14.2% | 13.5% | 14.8% | 3 |
| 2010s | 16.0% | 15.2% | 17.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 15.9% | 15.7% | 16.1% | 3 |
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 share of population living below national poverty lines in Sweden?
- Share of population living below national poverty lines in Sweden was 16.1% in 2022, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of population living below national poverty lines recorded in Sweden?
- The highest recorded value was 17.1% in 2018.
- What is the lowest share of population living below national poverty lines recorded in Sweden?
- The lowest recorded value was 13.5% in 2007.
- How does Sweden rank for share of population living below national poverty lines?
- Sweden ranks 41st out of 70 countries with data for 2022.
- Is share of population living below national poverty lines rising or falling in Sweden?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.6%. 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) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population living below national poverty lines. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 16 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
National poverty headcount ratio is the percentage of the population living below the national poverty lines. National estimates are based on population-weighted subgroup estimates from household surveys.