Chapter · Safety & Crime

What happened to safety in Sweden?

We start with overall crime statistics and insecurity, then enter the specific phenomena that set Sweden apart: shootings, bombings, sexual offences and honour contexts. Finally the geography — vulnerable areas, gangs' grip on children and businesses, and whether camera surveillance actually helps.

12 sections · ~18 min read

Overview

01Start here

Crime and insecurity

Whole-picture data from Brå and NTU. Development over time, which crimes are rising or falling, and how insecurity is distributed.

Shootings — Sweden vs Nordics

Per capita comparison with Norway, Denmark, Finland. How Sweden went from norm to outlier in under 15 years.

Bombings — Europe's highest

Bombings in residential settings. Sweden leads the EU — the trend and what police say about perpetrator profile.

Sexual crime

Reported and self-reported rape over time. Brå 2024 report on perpetrators' backgrounds.

Women's safety

NTU data on perceived safety outdoors after dark. Differences between neighbourhoods and ages.

Honour culture

Honour-related violence and oppression — scope, where it occurs, and the authorities' 20-year underestimate.

Vulnerable areas

Police list of vulnerable, especially vulnerable and risk areas — criteria, development and what parallel societies mean.

Vulnerable areas — development

How the list has grown and changed since 2015 — which areas added, which removed.

Gang violence & business

Protection fees, takeovers of restaurants and garages, infiltration of construction and public procurement.

Children in gang environments

Recruitment under age of criminal responsibility, child soldiers hired for murder, and limited tools of social services.

Sentencing, recidivism, capacity

Brå recidivism data, Prison Service occupancy and three research perspectives on what works — without claiming an answer.

Does camera surveillance work?

What research says about cameras' effect on crime — what they prevent, what they only displace, and where they work best.