At a glance
Key figures — the most important numbers on this page
2015
53
Areas in the first assessment
2017–2023
61
Peak, three editions
2025
65
Areas in the 2025 assessment
2025
19
Of which 'especially vulnerable'
2015–2025
6
Editions (2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2025)
2025
3 → 2
Categories — 'risk area' dropped
What does the data show?
Objective observations — not interpretations
- Number of areas per category at each publication in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2025 — not an annual measurement.
- Which areas were added or removed between two editions.
- Which areas moved category between two editions (e.g. from 'especially vulnerable' to 'vulnerable').
- That the total (55–61 areas) has been broadly flat since 2017 — despite substantial police operations.
- That Denmark's comparable list (the 'parallelsamfundslisten' under the housing act) has fallen from about 25 (2015) to 12 (2025).
- That a change in the list cannot alone be read as a change in the underlying situation.
Definitions
How the numbers are counted — and what they do not cover
- Publication year vs calendar year
- The assessment is published every other year (2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2025). Between publications there is no official reclassification. An annual line in a chart therefore represents publication moments, not annual measurements.Source: Swedish Police — 2023/2025 assessment (method).
- Category change
- A change of an area's category in a new edition compared with the previous one — e.g. from 'especially vulnerable' to 'vulnerable' or vice versa. May reflect an actual change, a geographic redefinition or adjusted assessment criteria.Source: Swedish Police — assessment series.
- Added area
- An area classified for the first time in a new edition. Does not necessarily mean the situation is new — it may also mean that the area's boundaries have been adjusted or that the police have revised an earlier judgement.Source: Swedish Police — 2023/2025 assessments.
- Removed area
- A previously classified area that no longer appears in a new edition. May be due to actual improvement, geographic redefinition, splitting or merging with another area, or adjusted assessment criteria.Source: Swedish Police — 2023/2025 assessments.
- Geographic delineation
- An area in the assessment consists of one or more SCB key-code zones (NYKO) or equivalents. Changed boundaries between publications mean that the comparison does not always cover exactly the same footprint.Source: Swedish Police — assessment series; SCB DeSO/NYKO.
- Method change
- A change in definitions, categories, assessment criteria, geographic delineation or data collection. The Swedish Police have adjusted criteria on several occasions (2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2025). The largest is the removal of the 'risk area' category in 2025.Source: Swedish Police — 2025 assessment (method).
- Comparable time series
- A series in which each data point is measured with the same method and same definitions. After the 2025 edition, the 'areas per category' series is not strictly comparable over the full 2015–2025 period — a strictly comparable series exists only from 2025 onward.Source: Swedish Police — 2025 assessment (method).
- Vulnerable and especially vulnerable (2025)
- The two categories that apply from the 2025 assessment. 'Vulnerable' corresponds to the earlier 'vulnerable' and 'risk area'; 'especially vulnerable' has the same meaning as in previous editions. The 'risk area' category no longer exists.Source: Swedish Police — 2025 assessment.
How to read this
Data in context
How to read this
The charts below show what the numbers say — not an interpretation. Where data point in different directions (e.g. stable trust but rising insecurity) we show both series rather than pick a narrative.
Polismyndighetens kategoriserade utsatta områden, 2015–2025 — 2015–2025 (områden)
- 2015: 53 områden; 2017: 61 områden; 2019: 60 områden; 2021: 61 områden; 2023: 59 områden; 2025: 65 områden — varav 19 särskilt utsatta, 46 övriga utsatta
- 2025*varav 19 särskilt utsatta, 46 övriga utsatta
The Nordics — same metric
Antal officiellt kategoriserade utsatta/ghetto-områden — Sverige vs Danmark (lista) vs Norge/Finland (saknas)
2015–2025 · index · Nordics
Antal officiellt kategoriserade utsatta/ghetto-områden — Sverige vs Danmark (lista) vs Norge/Finland (saknas): Norge moves from 0 (2015) to 0 (2025) — unchanged. Full values are available in the data table below (2015–2025, Norden).
| År | Norge | Danmark | Finland | Sverige |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 015 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 53 |
| 2 025 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 65 |
Source:
Human consequence
Persona
A community police officer in a particularly vulnerable area.
Then
- A 'community team' meant a few officers on call.
- Crime scenes were handled by individual patrols.
- Witnesses called the police — and dared to testify.
Now
- Permanent reinforcement, body armour standard.
- Multiple patrols and ambulance escort required for callouts.
- Witness interviews are done in protected channels; witness refusal is more common than in any other Nordic country.
How does it look in your municipality?
Every area sits inside a municipality. Open the municipality tool to see which municipalities have areas in the latest assessment and how the list has changed there.
Primary sources
Agencies and research institutions behind this page
4
agencies/institutions
6
reports & studies
2
primary datasets
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to what is most often discussed
Related topics
Logical next steps if you want to understand the background
2035
What would it take to follow Denmark — halving the list in a decade?
Sweden's list has not turned downwards since 2017. At Denmark's halving rate, Sweden's list would not reach 30 areas until well into the 2030s.
Sources for this page
The data comes from official primary sources.
Polisen · Irregular
Utsatta områden — polisens nationella lägesbildPolisens klassning av utsatta områden
Latest data point · Source published
Read the full investigation of how Sweden has changed.
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