How are young people doing in Sweden?
Short answer: Unemployment among young people is high compared with the EU, but few are completely outside. 24.3 % of 15–24-year-olds in the labour force were unemployed in 2025, against 15.2 % in the EU, but six in ten of the unemployed were full-time students looking for work alongside their studies. Only 5.9 % of 15–29-year-olds were neither working nor studying, about half the EU level. Young people in Sweden leave home early, but 125 of 282 municipalities reported in 2025 a shortage of housing for young people. In the 2022 general election 82 % of 18–29-year-olds voted, against 85 % of everyone.
Why Sweden looks worse than its neighbours.
Unemployment among 15–24-year-olds was 24.3 % 2025 according to Eurostat, higher than in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Germany and nine percentage points above the EU average. But the measure is counted among those in the labour force, and under the international definition (ILO) a full-time student who is looking for work and can start within two weeks counts as unemployed. In Sweden many students look for side jobs: of the 170,000 unemployed 15–24-year-olds 2025, 102,000 were full-time students according to Statistics Sweden's Labour Force Survey. Counting the unemployed as a share of all 15–24-year-olds instead gives Sweden a figure of 13.9 %, but still above the EU's 6.2 %.
Unemployed aged 15–24 as a percentage of the labour force of the same age, and as a percentage of the whole population aged 15–24. Source: Eurostat, une_rt_a and yth_empl_140; full-time students: Statistics Sweden, LFS, unemployed and of which full-time students. Unemployment by municipality, which counts those registered with the Public Employment Service, is on Work.
Fewer young people are completely outside than in almost the whole EU.
Young people who neither work nor study are called NEET internationally and UVAS by the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society (MUCF). Eurostat's measure is based on the Labour Force Survey and also counts anyone who took a course in the last four weeks as a student. 5.9 % of 15–29-year-olds in Sweden were NEET in 2025, against 11.0 % in the EU. MUCF and Statistics Sweden also count from registers, which gives other figures. The share by municipality and age group, 16–24 and 25–29, is on Work.
Share of the population aged 15–29 neither employed nor in education or training. Source: Eurostat, edat_lfse_20; MUCF, Young people neither working nor studying.
At what age do young people get a foothold in the labour market?
The establishment age is usually defined as the age at which 75 % of a cohort has a job. According to the inquiry SOU 2006:31 it rose from 21 in 1990 to 28 in 2004. There is no ongoing official series, but the employment rate by age shows the same picture: 62.3 % of 20–24-year-olds and 77.2 % of 25–29-year-olds had a job in 2025. Two years after upper secondary school 32 % were working and 40 % studying at university; by municipality under By municipality further down.
Employed as a percentage of the population of the same age. Source: Eurostat, lfsa_ergan; establishment age: SOU 2006:31, with Statistics Sweden's Labour Force Survey as source.
Young Swedes leave home earliest in Europe.
According to Eurostat, young people in Sweden left home at an average age of 21.9 in 2024 and 23.1 in 2025, against 26.3 in the EU and around 30 in Italy and Spain. The Swedish value is based on a sample and jumps between years. Leaving home is not the same as getting your own lease or buying: many start in student housing or subletting. The mortgage cap was raised on 1 April 2026 from 85 to 90 % of the home's value at purchase, and the stricter amortisation requirement was removed; the government justified it among other things by making it easier for young people to buy their first home.
Estimated average age when young people leave the parental home, years. Source: Eurostat, yth_demo_030. Mortgage cap: government press release 5 March 2026 and committee report 2025/26:FiU36. House prices and rents are on Housing.
Fewer municipalities say young people lack housing.
Every year the National Board of Housing (Boverket) asks the municipalities what the housing market looks like for different groups. In 2020, 210 municipalities, three in four, answered that there was a shortage of housing for young people. In 2025 it was 125 of 282, or 44 %. The municipalities answer themselves, and the answer says nothing about how large the shortage is.
Municipalities that in the housing market survey judge there to be a shortage of housing for young people, of the municipalities that answered. Source: Boverket, housing market survey, via Kolada (U30460).
More young people say they feel bad.
In the Public Health Agency's survey Health Behaviour in School-aged Children, the share of 15-year-old girls who felt low more than once a week rose from 14 % in 1985 to 54 % in 2021, and among boys from 5 to 25 %. The series, diagnoses in healthcare and what may lie behind it are on Mental health.
Both more often suspected and more often victims.
Young people are suspected of crime more often than older people, per inhabitant, but the share has fallen. In 2025, 4,658 per 100,000 aged 15–17 were suspected, 6 % fewer than the year before. Among men aged 15–17 the figure has fallen by 18 % since 2016, while the group aged 50 and over has risen most. 79 % of suspected 15–17-year-olds are boys. Young people are also more often victims: in the Swedish Crime Survey by the National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå), the share exposed to sexual offences is highest among women aged 16–24, and the share exposed to assault highest among men aged 16–19.
| Age | Suspected per 100,000 | Change since 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| 15–17 | 4,658 | −6 % |
| 18–20 | 4,931 | ±0 % |
| 21–29 | 4,177 | −2 % |
| 30–49 | 3,116 | +4 % |
| 50 and older | 1,056 | +6 % |
| All aged 15 and over | 2,417 | +2 % |
Suspected persons are counted once per year regardless of how many offences they are suspected of. Source: Brå, Suspected persons 2025, and Swedish Crime Survey 2025. Crime by municipality is on Crime and gangs on Organised crime.
Young people vote a little less than others.
In the 2022 general election 82 % of eligible voters aged 18–29 voted, against 85 % of everyone. The gap has narrowed since 2002, when 72 % of young people and 80 % of everyone voted. Among first-time voters 84 % voted. Turnout by municipality for 18–29-year-olds is under By municipality further down, and elections in general on Democracy.
Turnout in general elections as a percentage of eligible voters. 2002–2014 come from Statistics Sweden's sample survey, 2018 and 2022 from the electoral rolls, so the method changes between 2014 and 2018. Source: Statistics Sweden, Voter Turnout Survey.
Entry into work, welfare and turnout in your municipality.
Two years after upper secondary graduation 84 % of students were working or studying in 2024. Where they end up differs a lot: in Stockholm 53 % were at university and 19 % working, in Umeå it was 36 % of each. The share of 18–24-year-olds receiving social assistance has more than halved since 2010. Choose a municipality at the top to compare it with the country and the other municipalities in the same county.
| Measure | Year | Lowest | Middle | Highest | Sweden | Chosen municipality |
|---|
The middle is the median: half of the municipalities are above and half below. Upper secondary eligibility by municipality is on Schools. Sources: Kolada (N18601, N18602, N18605, U31804) and Statistics Sweden, turnout in general elections by municipality.
The raised mortgage cap 2026.
In spring 2026 the Riksdag decided to raise the mortgage cap from 85 to 90 %, remove the stricter amortisation requirement and let the Riksbank take over the countercyclical capital buffer. The law changes were adopted without a vote. The Social Democrats and the Green Party demanded in a reservation that the reform be followed up, and that reservation was voted down by 172 votes to 127.
| Party | In brief | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Centre Party | Supported the law changes and voted for the committee's proposal | Vote |
| Christian Democrats | Governing party behind the bill. The government justifies it by saying more people, young people among them, should be able to buy a home | The government |
| Liberals | Governing party behind the bill. The government justifies it by saying more people, young people among them, should be able to buy a home | The government |
| Green Party | Supported the law changes but demanded an evaluation of whether more people get into the housing market or whether prices and debts just rise | Report 2025/26:FiU36, reservation 1 |
| Moderates | Governing party behind the bill. The government justifies it by saying more people, young people among them, should be able to buy a home | The government |
| Social Democrats | Supported the law changes but demanded an evaluation of whether more people get into the housing market or whether prices and debts just rise | Report 2025/26:FiU36, reservation 1 |
| Sweden Democrats | Supported the law changes and voted for the committee's proposal | Vote |
| Left Party | Voted for the reservation that the reform should be evaluated | Vote |
The bill 2025/26:119 was considered by the Committee on Finance in report FiU36. The table only covers the mortgage rules; the parties' positions on housing policy in general are on Housing and the party pages.
Where the figures come from.
- Source: Eurostat. Youth unemployment, NEET, employment by age and age when leaving home, compared with other countries.
- Source: SCB. Unemployed full-time students (LFS) and turnout by age and municipality.
- Source: Kolada. Entry into work after upper secondary, social assistance aged 18–24 and Boverket's housing market survey by municipality.
- Source: Brå. Suspected persons 2025 and the Swedish Crime Survey.
- Source: MUCF and Public Health Agency of Sweden. Young people neither working nor studying, and Health Behaviour in School-aged Children.
- Source: Riksdag open data and Government. The mortgage cap, the reservation and the vote.
The series come from Eurostat, Statistics Sweden and Kolada. The labour market is on Work, school on Schools, housing on Housing, health on Mental health, crime on Crime and elections on Democracy.