Fatal shootings per year(Brå)
- Then (1990s)
- approx. 8 (1996)
- Now (2020s)
- 44 (2024)
Time series · 1990 → 2025
Sweden 1990–2025:
key indicators over time
Time series on population, crime, education, trust and working life from Brå, Statistics Sweden, the Police, OECD and the SOM Institute. Measures use different definitions and periods. Two series moving together does not by itself show that one caused the other.
Sweden 1990 vs Sweden 2024
What the official figures show
Eight measures with different definitions, periods and uncertainties. All figures are published by authorities or established research institutes; each detail page explains its method.
Completed detonations(Police, preliminary and revisable series)
- Then (1990s)
- no separate series (1990s)
- Now (2020s)
- 159 (2023), 136 (2024), 190 (2025, revised)
Share foreign-born(SCB)
- Then (1990s)
- 9 % (1990)
- Now (2020s)
- 20.8 % (2025)
Share with foreign background(SCB)
- Then (1990s)
- 13.1 % (1995)
- Now (2020s)
- 27.7 % (2025)
Police 'vulnerable areas'(Police)
- Then (1990s)
- 0 (term did not exist)
- Now (2020s)
- 65 (2025) — 19 especially vulnerable, 46 other
PISA reading literacy(OECD/Skolverket)
- Then (1990s)
- 516 (2000)
- Now (2020s)
- 487 (2022)
Interpersonal trust (high)(SOM Institute)
- Then (1990s)
- approx. 62 % (1996)
- Now (2020s)
- approx. 55 % (2023)
Women feeling unsafe out late(Brå NTU)
- Then (1990s)
- 27 % (2007)
- Now (2020s)
- 34 % (2023)
| Measure | Then (1990s) | Now (2020s) |
|---|---|---|
| Fatal shootings per year(Brå) | approx. 8 (1996) | 44 (2024) |
| Completed detonations(Police, preliminary and revisable series) | no separate series (1990s) | 159 (2023), 136 (2024), 190 (2025, revised) |
| Share foreign-born(SCB) | 9 % (1990) | 20.8 % (2025) |
| Share with foreign background(SCB) | 13.1 % (1995) | 27.7 % (2025) |
| Police 'vulnerable areas'(Police) | 0 (term did not exist) | 65 (2025) — 19 especially vulnerable, 46 other |
| PISA reading literacy(OECD/Skolverket) | 516 (2000) | 487 (2022) |
| Interpersonal trust (high)(SOM Institute) | approx. 62 % (1996) | approx. 55 % (2023) |
| Women feeling unsafe out late(Brå NTU) | 27 % (2007) | 34 % (2023) |
Sources: Brå, Swedish Police, SCB, OECD/Skolverket, SOM Institute.
Sweden in Europe
How does Sweden compare to the EU average?
Five measures where Sweden deviates clearly — up or down — from the rest of Western Europe. Sources: EUDA, Eurostat, OECD PISA, World Values Survey.
Fatal shootings /100k young men
4.5
EU avg.: 0.6
Eurostat 2024
PISA reading 2000→2022
−29 p
EU avg.: −13 p
OECD
Share foreign-born 2024
20.5 %
EU avg.: 9.1 %
Eurostat
Interpersonal trust (high)
57 %
EU avg.: 33 %
SOM Swedish Trends 1986–2025 / WVS
Completed detonations 2025
190
EU avg.: not available
Police revised annual figure (annual report 2025, table 4.20); no comparable EU average
No comparable EU average for completed detonations is available here. Shootings, reported explosion offences and completed detonations are different measures.
Timeline
Forty years in points
1985
Sweden receives 14,500 asylum seekers. Crime and trust at post-war peaks.
1992
Financial crisis and the 'Lucia decisions'. Diversity enters political debate.
2002
The murder of Fadime — honour violence becomes a national debate for the first time.
2008
The term 'exclusion areas' enters the government's political vocabulary.
2015
163,000 asylum seekers in one year. The single largest refugee wave in Swedish history.
2017
Police publish a list of 61 vulnerable areas for the first time.
2020
Record year for fatal shootings — 47 dead in firearm violence.
2022
Honour oppression becomes a separate crime in the criminal code (chap 4 § 4 e).
2024
Brå: 377 reported explosions incl. attempts. Police: 136 completed detonations (annual report 2025, table 4.20; separate annual file: 139). Fatal shootings fall to 44.
Six sub-topics
The broader picture — and what it means
Historical comparison
Sweden then and now (1990 → 2025)
Crime, school results, trust and safety across four decades — in comparable measures.
44
fatal shootings in 2024 — down from 63 in 2022 (Brå/Police)
Read the investigation →
Women's safety
Honour culture and women's rights
Honour-related violence, control and gender segregation — what Swedish research shows.
Unavailable
No continuous national measurement; see the linked page’s source limitations
Read the investigation →
Insecure everyday life
Gang violence and its impact on society
Shootings, bombings and businesses opting out of Sweden or certain districts.
190
Police completed detonations in 2025, revised annual report. Brå: 621 reports incl. attempts
Read the investigation →
Population
Demographic and cultural change
How fast Sweden's population composition has changed — in two generations.
27.7 %
of Sweden's population has a foreign background (SCB 2025)
Read the investigation →
The social contract
Social trust and the social contract
Trust trends from the SOM Institute, segregation and parallel societies.
62 → 57 %
share with high interpersonal trust 1996–2025 (SOM Institute)
Read the investigation →
Business climate
Businesses and talent flight
Recruitment problems, missed investments and how insecurity is reshaping the business climate.
1 in 4
entrepreneurs have considered relocating due to insecurity (member survey, Confederation of Swedish Enterprise — trade body)
Read the investigation →
⭐ The ultimate overview
Sweden then and now — 1990 vs 2025
Ten metrics. Thirty-five years. One page compressing the whole change.
In depth
Twenty deep-dives — sorted into three themes.
Crime & insecurity
Bombings →
From zero to Europe's top
BRÅ: 317 bombings in 2023 — highest per capita in the EU.
Shootings — vs Nordics →
10× higher than neighbours
62 killed in shootings in 2022 (Police). Nordics ~5.
Women's safety →
About one in three women feel unsafe late at night
Brå NTU comparable series: 34 % (2007), 31 % (2024), 32 % (2025) of women aged 16–84.
Vulnerable areas →
The list that didn't exist in 2014
Police 2025: 65 vulnerable areas, 19 particularly vulnerable (method change 2025; the 'risk area' category was removed).
Sexual crime →
3× reports in 20 years
BRÅ: reported rapes 2,100 (2003) → ~9,700 (2023).
Children in gang areas →
Recruitment age 13
Police: recruitment now reaches primary school.
Gang violence & business →
Firms opting out of Sweden
Confederation of Swedish Enterprise: 1 in 4 firms hit by crime.
Demographics & culture
Demographic change →
Two generations, a new Sweden
SCB: foreign-born share 9 % (1990) → 21 % (2024).
By municipality →
From 9 % to 21 % — unevenly
Range: ~4 % in Vansbro, ~51 % in Botkyrka.
Big cities then and now →
Neighbourhood by neighbourhood
Rinkeby, Husby, Rosengård: 75–90 % foreign background.
Swedish at home →
Entitlement ≠ home language
These entitlement statistics do not measure exclusive home language.
Islam in Sweden →
4.6 % (2010) → 8.1 % (2016) per Pew
Pew 2017: estimated 810,000 Muslims (8.1 %) in 2016. 2050 scenarios (conditional): 11.1 / 20.5 / 30.6 %.
Mosques →
From 5 to 350 prayer halls
SST: ~350 mosques and prayer halls in 2024, from 5 in 1990.
Gender segregation →
In pools, schools, associations
School Inspectorate & DO: cases rising in schools, pools and sports.
Honour culture →
240,000 young people under honour norms
City of Stockholm 2018: 240,000 young people live under honour norms.
Society & economy
Schools & PISA →
From top 10 to below average
PISA 2022: reading literacy −19 points since 2018.
Property prices →
The market prices in safety
Realtor data: safer areas appreciate 2–3× faster.
Social trust →
Trust falls in vulnerable areas
SOM Institute: trust in vulnerable areas down ≈ 55 → ≈ 40 %.
Business & talent flight →
1 in 4 considered relocating
Confederation 2023: 25 % of managers have considered leaving.
Chapter 1 — Sweden then and now →
10 key indicators + comparison table
Side by side — 1990 vs 2025 with official sources.
Chapter 2 — How did we get here? →
Decisions, turning points and delayed effects
From the postwar model to 2015 — and why the consequences show up so late.
Chapter 3 — Who came here? →
Grounds, origins and composition
Residence grounds, origin regions and establishment conditions.
Chapter 4 — What were the consequences? →
Work, economy, municipalities, schools, crime, segregation
Editorial overview of the long-run outcomes — with sources and evidence tags.
Summary analysis
Why has it happened so fast?
No single factor explains the entire change, but several lines run in parallel: a historically large immigration over a short time (SCB), weak integration measured as employment, welfare dependency and educational results (KI, ESO, Skolverket), the emergence of geographically concentrated parallel societies (Police), and cultural norms around honour and collective control that Swedish law has failed to handle effectively (Schlytter; City of Stockholm).
The consequences are no longer marginal. Sweden tops the EU statistics for fatal firearm violence among young men (EMCDDA/EUDA). Reading literacy has fallen more sharply than in almost any other OECD country (PISA 2022). Interpersonal trust — what research considers the foundation of a functioning welfare state — has declined, especially in vulnerable areas (SOM Institute). Businesses increasingly report avoiding investment or recruitment because of insecurity (Confederation of Swedish Enterprise).
The common thread is that the demographic and cultural changes have outpaced society's capacity to integrate, and that policy has for decades underestimated both the costs and the social effects. This is not a claim — it is what the official numbers show when you put them side by side.
Sources for this page
The data comes from official primary sources.
Brå · Annually
Anmälda brottAnmälda brott
Latest data point · Source published
Polisen · Monthly
Sprängningar per polisregion — årsserieFullbordade detonationer per kalenderår
Latest data point · Source published
SCB · Annually
BE0101 Befolkningsstatistik — utrikes födda och utländsk bakgrundUtrikes födda och utländsk bakgrund
Latest data point · Source published
SOM-institutet · Annually
SOM-institutet (Göteborgs universitet) — Svenska förtroendetrender 1986–2025Förtroende för samhällsinstitutioner och medier (SOM-institutet)
Latest data point · Source published
Corrections for this page
What happened to Sweden: 13.1 per cent with a foreign background refers to 1995
The page stated that 13 per cent of the population had a foreign background in 1990. Statistics Sweden publishes no value for foreign background in 1990. The value 13.1 per cent refers to 1995. The page now gives 13.1 per cent (1995). The conclusion that the share has risen sharply since the 1990s is not affected. The correction was published and checked on the site on 1 November 2026.
Delningsankare och 14 nya OG-kort
Sidor utan egen delningsyta har fått delningsankare (X, Facebook, Reddit, länk) och faktabaserade Open Graph-kort för /vad-hande-med-sverige/*, /vinnarna och /what-if — på både svenska och engelska. Delningsstatistik lagras anonymt och dubbelräknas inte.
Use this statistic
Copy a reference or the canonical link. The original source is included when registered for this page.
Short source
SVERIGEFAKTA, “Sweden 1990–2025: key indicators over time”. Original source: SCB, Brå, Polisen, SOM-institutet. https://sverigefakta.com/en/what-happened-to-sweden
Full reference
SVERIGEFAKTA, “Sweden 1990–2025: key indicators over time”. Original source: SCB (https://www.scb.se/hitta-statistik/statistik-efter-amne/befolkning-och-levnadsforhallanden/befolkningens-sammansattning-och-utveckling/befolkningsstatistik/); Brå (https://bra.se/statistik/statistik-om-rattsvasendet/anmalda-brott); Polisen (https://polisen.se/96edf5437e1017b04b2c3818f8896dc8/contentassets/5fe3039dff9745e39999f5ff4e67e27f/sprangningar-per-polisregion-2025.pdf); SOM-institutet (https://www.gu.se/sites/default/files/2026-03/Svenska%20f%C3%B6rtroendetrender%201986-2025.pdf). https://sverigefakta.com/en/what-happened-to-sweden
APA 7
Sweden 1990–2025: key indicators over time. (n.d.). SVERIGEFAKTA. Retrieved 2026-11-04, from https://sverigefakta.com/en/what-happened-to-sweden Original source: SCB, Brå, Polisen, SOM-institutet.
Harvard
“Sweden 1990–2025: key indicators over time” (n.d.) SVERIGEFAKTA. Available at: https://sverigefakta.com/en/what-happened-to-sweden (Accessed: 2026-11-04). Original source: SCB, Brå, Polisen, SOM-institutet.
BibTeX
@misc{sverigefakta_2026_en_whathappenedtosweden,
title = {Sweden 1990–2025: key indicators over time},
howpublished = {\url{https://sverigefakta.com/en/what-happened-to-sweden}},
note = {Presented by SVERIGEFAKTA; original source SCB, Brå, Polisen, SOM-institutet}
}Canonical link
https://sverigefakta.com/en/what-happened-to-sweden