Sickness benefit & sickness compensation
- Mdr kr/år
- 4.2
- Andel avsiktligt
- 21 %
Economy · crime
Welfare crime 2024
About 15.2 billion SEK is paid out incorrectly from welfare systems each year, of which about 5.6 billion is assessed as intentional benefit fraud. Compilation from the Swedish Economic Crime Authority, Försäkringskassan, ISF and the Delegation against work-related crime.
Källor: Ekobrottsmyndigheten, Försäkringskassan/ISF, FUT-delegationen (SOU 2019:59), Delegationen mot arbetslivskriminalitet.
Last updated: View changelog
Fact pageSources checked
Updated:
Kanoniskt intervall (rubriksiffra): ca 11–27 mdkr/år, centralt estimat ~18 mdkr — KUT/FUT (SOU 2019:59); bekräftat av ISF 2020:9 och Utbetalningsmyndigheten 2024.
Den systemvisa fördelningen nedan summerar till ~15 mdkr och ligger inom intervallet. Se Welfare crime för fördjupning och tidsserie.
Felaktiga utbetalningar från välfärdssystemen per system
2024 · miljarder kronor per år · Sverige
Felaktiga utbetalningar från välfärdssystemen per system: Felaktiga utbetalningar (mdr kr/år) moves from 4.2 (Sjukpenning & sjukersättning) to 0.4 (Etableringsersättning) — down 3.8 miljarder kronor per år. Full values are available in the data table below (2024, Sverige).
| System | Felaktiga utbetalningar (mdr kr/år) | Bedömt avsiktligt (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Sjukpenning & sjukersättning | 4,2 | 21 |
| Assistansersättning | 3,1 | 62 |
| Bostadsbidrag | 1,8 | 33 |
| Föräldrapenning | 1,6 | 24 |
| Ekonomiskt bistånd (kommuner) | 2,4 | 45 |
| A-kassa | 1,1 | 38 |
| Underhållsstöd | 0,6 | 30 |
| Etableringsersättning | 0,4 | 41 |
Method: Bedömda felaktiga utbetalningar per ersättningssystem, inklusive andel som bedöms vara avsiktlig (bidragsbrott). Beloppen är skattningar från omfattningsstudier, inte konstaterade brott — osäkerhetsintervallen är breda och skiljer sig mellan system.
Source: Delegationen för korrekta utbetalningar (SOU 2019:59) samt uppdaterade myndighetsskattningar (accessed 2026-07-27) · Ekonomistyrningsverket — Felaktiga utbetalningar från välfärdssystemen (accessed 2026-07-27)
Personal-assistance allowance
- Mdr kr/år
- 3.1
- Andel avsiktligt
- 62 %
Housing allowance
- Mdr kr/år
- 1.8
- Andel avsiktligt
- 33 %
Parental benefit
- Mdr kr/år
- 1.6
- Andel avsiktligt
- 24 %
Social assistance (municipalities)
- Mdr kr/år
- 2.4
- Andel avsiktligt
- 45 %
Unemployment insurance
- Mdr kr/år
- 1.1
- Andel avsiktligt
- 38 %
Maintenance support
- Mdr kr/år
- 0.6
- Andel avsiktligt
- 30 %
Introduction benefit
- Mdr kr/år
- 0.4
- Andel avsiktligt
- 41 %
| System | Mdr kr/år | Andel avsiktligt |
|---|---|---|
| Sickness benefit & sickness compensation | 4.2 | 21 % |
| Personal-assistance allowance | 3.1 | 62 % |
| Housing allowance | 1.8 | 33 % |
| Parental benefit | 1.6 | 24 % |
| Social assistance (municipalities) | 2.4 | 45 % |
| Unemployment insurance | 1.1 | 38 % |
| Maintenance support | 0.6 | 30 % |
| Introduction benefit | 0.4 | 41 % |
Red = share assessed as intentional ≥ 40%. System breakdown sums to ~15 bn SEK, within the ISF/FUT range of 11–27 bn. '≈ half intentional' follows the KUT/ESV standard. Source: Försäkringskassan/ISF + SOU 2019:59.
Don't mix up the numbers
- 100–150 mdkr refers to the entire criminal economy (Swedish Police) — not welfare crime. Using it as a welfare-crime figure is wrong by a factor of 5–10×.
- The Payment Authority (Utbetalningsmyndigheten) was established 1 January 2024 and is gradually taking over coordinated control of erroneous payouts.
Population-register errors (Skatteverket 2024)
≥ 79 000registered incorrectly
~116 000registered at the wrong address
Two separate measures — 'registered incorrectly' and 'registered at the wrong address' partly overlap and should not be summed.
Ekobrottsmyndigheten — ärenden 2024
Accounting offences
- Count
- 3 120
Tax offences (gross/normal)
- Count
- 2 410
Fraud against welfare systems
- Count
- 1 580
Money-laundering offences
- Count
- 940
Insider offences / market abuse
- Count
- 260
| Category | Count |
|---|---|
| Accounting offences | 3 120 |
| Tax offences (gross/normal) | 2 410 |
| Fraud against welfare systems | 1 580 |
| Money-laundering offences | 940 |
| Insider offences / market abuse | 260 |
Arbetslivskriminalitet — kontroller 2024
- Kontrollerade arbetsställen
- 2 320
- Andel med avvikelse
- 61 %
- Utvisningsbeslut
- 174
- Polisanmäl. människoexploatering
- 89
Primary sources
- SOU 2019:59 — Samlade åtgärder mot felaktiga utbetalningar (slutbetänkande) ↗
- ISF — Felaktiga utbetalningar från välfärdssystemen (rapportlista, senaste rapport 2020:9) ↗
- Arbetsmiljöverket — Årsrapport myndighetsgemensam kontroll mot arbetslivskriminalitet 2024 (rap 2025:2) ↗
- Utbetalningsmyndigheten — Lägesbild 2024 (publikationslista, inrättad 1 jan 2024) ↗
- Ekobrottsmyndigheten — Årsredovisning 2024 (publikationslista) ↗
- Socialstyrelsen 2024-9-9224 — Välfärdsbrottslighet inom hälso- och sjukvården och tandvården (2024-09-30, publikationslista) ↗
- Polisen/Cura — Myndighetsgemensam rapport välfärdsbrottslighet inom vård och omsorg (2024, publikationslista) ↗
- Brå — Anmälda brott 2024 (bidragsbrott, statistikdatabas) ↗
The question this page answers
How much welfare crime is there actually — and how do we tell erroneous payouts apart from organised crime against the welfare systems?
At a glance
Key figures — the most important numbers on this page
Erroneous payouts/year (range)
11–27 bn SEK
SOU 2019:59 (KUT/FUT) — confirmed by ISF 2020:9 and the Payment Authority 2024
Central estimate
≈18 bn SEK
Midpoint of the KUT range — individual years may deviate
Share of total benefits paid
≈5 %
SOU 2019:59 — share of ~350 bn SEK in total welfare benefits
Share judged intentional fraud
≈9 %
Remainder is agency error or unintentional mistake by the recipient
Reported benefit-fraud crimes 2024
≈15,000
Brå — reports from Försäkringskassan, PES, municipalities and others
Assistance-fraud investigation rate
≈40 %
Försäkringskassan — share of checked LSS assistance cases with irregularities
Criminal networks tapping welfare
≈75
NOA situational report 2024 — networks systematically abusing benefit systems
Payment Authority operational
2024
New agency with consolidated responsibility to prevent erroneous payouts
What does the data show?
Objective observations — not interpretations
- The central range from the KUT inquiry (SOU 2019:59) — about 11–27 billion SEK per year in erroneous payouts — has been confirmed by ISF 2020:9 and by the Payment Authority's 2024 situational report. Individual years may deviate depending on the cycle and control intensity.
- Only a subset — about 9 % per SOU 2019:59 — is judged as intentional fraud. The rest is spread across agency error (wrong decision, wrong data) and unintentional mistakes by recipients. Conflating these categories often leads to misleading debate.
- Organised welfare crime is a smaller but growing subset. NOA's 2024 situational report identifies about 75 criminal networks that systematically abuse the welfare systems — personal assistance, unemployment insurance, social assistance, dental subsidies, corporate support. These networks are often the same ones active in other organised crime.
- Personal assistance is the benefit form that recurs in most investigations. Försäkringskassan estimates that about 40 % of checked assistance cases contain some form of irregularity — from formal errors to organised crime.
- The Payment Authority (operational from 2024) is for the first time consolidating the check for cross-agency patterns between Försäkringskassan, the Public Employment Service, CSN, the Tax Agency and municipalities. Its effect on the level of erroneous payouts cannot yet be measured but is expected to show in 2026–2027.
Method note
The 11–27 bn SEK estimate is based on the KUT method (‘correct payouts from the welfare systems’) which combines review of randomly sampled cases with register data. This yields a range, not a point estimate. Reporting and conviction statistics from Brå capture only what is detected and reported — the dark figure is large. NOA's situational report is built on police intelligence and is therefore reserved for actors where a network structure has been confirmed.
Definitions
How the numbers are counted — and what they do not cover
- Erroneous payouts
- Payment from the welfare systems that should not have occurred, or should have occurred at a different amount, had all data been correct. Covers three categories: intentional fraud, agency error and unintentional mistakes.
- Welfare crime
- Crimes directed at the welfare systems — benefit fraud, assistance fraud, document forgery in contact with authorities, money laundering of criminal proceeds through benefits. Constitutes the intentional share of erroneous payouts.The term is sometimes used more narrowly for organised crime that systematically abuses welfare — NOA distinguishes this as ‘organised welfare crime’.
- KUT method
- ‘Correct payouts from the welfare systems’ — method for estimating the level of erroneous payouts through sample-based review of cases at the agencies concerned. Developed for the FUT delegation and later by the KUT delegation (SOU 2019:59).
- Benefit Fraud Act (2007:612)
- Law criminalising the provision of incorrect information — or the omission to report changes — that leads to benefits being paid out incorrectly. Penalty scale: fines to imprisonment; aggravated offence up to six years.
- Assistance fraud
- Fraud with personal-assistance compensation under LSS — e.g. inflated time use, fictitious next-of-kin assistance, double invoicing. A large share of detected cases involve family- or network-based arrangements.
- Payment Authority
- New central agency operational from 2024 with consolidated responsibility for identifying and preventing erroneous payouts across Försäkringskassan, the Public Employment Service, the Pension Authority, CSN, the Tax Agency and municipal social assistance.
- Shell company
- Company without real operations used to channel benefits, salaries or contracts between persons or to create fictitious employment giving rise to unemployment insurance or sickness benefit. Common in organised welfare crime.
- Nominee (bulvan)
- Person formally responsible for a company, tenancy or benefit application but in practice acting on behalf of another. Nominees are used to hide the real principal and to circumvent control systems.
- Cross-agency control (MGK)
- Cooperation between Försäkringskassan, the Tax Agency, the Police, the Economic Crime Authority, the Migration Agency and others to detect and investigate organised welfare crime. Systematised from 2018 and now part of the Payment Authority's toolkit.
- Intentional fraud vs agency error
- SOU 2019:59 estimates that about 9 % of erroneous payouts constitute intentional fraud by the recipient, about 20 % are agency errors (wrong decision or wrong data) and the rest are recipients' unintentional mistakes. The mix varies substantially between benefit types.
Primary sources
Agencies and research institutions behind this page
6
agencies/institutions
6
reports & studies
3
primary datasets
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to what is most often discussed
No — 27 bn is the upper bound of the KUT range for ALL erroneous payouts, including agency errors and unintentional mistakes. Only about 9 % of that (roughly 2–3 bn) is judged intentional fraud per SOU 2019:59. Organised welfare crime is in turn a subset of that fraud category. These levels must be kept apart in the debate.
Related topics
Logical next steps if you want to understand the background
Welfare crime 2024 — current compilation
Deep dive into the 2024 reports, case types and cross-agency control.
Benefit dependency over time
Legitimate benefit support by time in Sweden — a different question from fraud.
Work and benefits
Employment, self-support and long-term benefit reliance in a labour-market perspective.
Crime — overview
Where welfare crime fits into the broader picture of organised crime.
Sources for this page
The data comes from official primary sources.
Utbetalningsmyndigheten · Annually
Kunskapsrapport — Myndigheternas och a-kassornas arbete mot felaktiga utbetalningar (2026)Felaktiga utbetalningar från välfärdssystemen — årlig analys
Latest data point · Source published
Corrections for this page
Välfärdsbrottslighet — intervall justerat till 15–20 mdkr
Ingressen på /valfardsbrott-2024 angav tidigare 15–18 mdkr. Aktuella myndighetsrapporter anger 15–20 mdkr; sidan och OG-metadata uppdaterade.
Cite this page
Content and our own calculations are CC BY 4.0. Please also cite the primary source.
APA 7
Sverigefakta.com. (2026). Sverigefakta. Retrieved 2026-08-19, from https://sverigefakta.com/en/welfare-crime-2024
Harvard
Sverigefakta.com (2026) Sverigefakta. Available at: https://sverigefakta.com/en/welfare-crime-2024 (Accessed: 2026-08-19).
Simple web citation
Sverigefakta.com, "Sverigefakta", https://sverigefakta.com/en/welfare-crime-2024 (accessed 2026-08-19).
BibTeX
@misc{sverigefakta_2026_en_welfarecrime2024,
author = {Sverigefakta.com},
title = {Sverigefakta},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://sverigefakta.com/en/welfare-crime-2024}},
note = {Dataset v2026.2, accessed 2026-08-19}
}Permanent link
https://sverigefakta.com/en/welfare-crime-2024