The gap between Sweden’s richest and poorest is still significant, although it has narrowed somewhat, according to Statistics Sweden (SCB). Djursholm tops the list of the wealthiest areas, while the student-dense area of Flogsta ranks at the bottom.
Sweden’s economic standard declined for the second consecutive year in 2023, according to SCB’s latest figures. The median income amounted to just over €26,000. Meanwhile, the proportion of people living in “relative poverty” decreased slightly, and the gap between the richest and poorest shrank for the first time in many years.
SCB’s statistics also include figures on Swedes’ net incomes, which EFN Finansmagasinet has analyzed at the municipal level. Southern Djursholm ranks at the top with a net income of just under €172,000. It is followed by northern Djursholm and several other exclusive areas in Stockholm. Eight of the ten municipalities with the highest economic standards in 2023 are located in the capital region.
At the bottom of the list is the student-dense area of Västra Flogsta in Uppsala, where the average net income is around €11,000. Other areas with low incomes include student areas and immigrant-dense neighborhoods such as Rosengård in Malmö, Kronogården in Trollhättan, and Tjärna Ängar in Borlänge.
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Four people are being treated in hospital, two with life-threatening injuries, after an extensive knife fight at Österportskolan in Malmö, Sweden during the night leading to Saturday.
Eight suspected perpetrators have been arrested and police are investigating the incident as attempted murder.
Shortly after midnight, police were alerted that around 20 people were involved in a large fight on the grounds of Österportskolan in the southern Swedish city of Malmö.
— There was stabbing with knives left and right so four people are in hospital with knife wounds, two of whom are seriously injured, says Michael Lindh, duty commander at police region South, to TT (Swedish news agency).
When police arrived, only a few people remained at the scene, including a stabbed man in his 20s who was taken to hospital by ambulance.
— One person was taken to hospital in an ambulance and three in a private car, explains Filip Annas, press spokesperson for police region South, to Schibsted-owned TV4 Nyheterna.
“More may be involved”
A total of eight people have been arrested, including the four being treated in hospital.
One of those arrested is 15 years old, the others are between 20-25 years old. The incident is classified as attempted murder.
— It cannot be ruled out that more may be involved, states Filip Annas.
The area has been cordoned off for technical investigation. Police have conducted door-to-door inquiries in the area and held witness interviews. More interviews are expected to be held in the coming days.
Unemployment in Sweden rose during the second quarter of 2025, while inflation continues to remain high. The economic uncertainty is also increasingly affecting households and businesses.
According to the Swedish Public Employment Service’s latest figures, 366,496 people were officially registered as unemployed in June 2025, compared to 347,994 people during the same period the previous year. This corresponds to an unemployment level of 6.9 percent, up from 6.6 percent in 2024.
The increase is visible in 15 of the country’s 21 counties, where Västerbotten in northern Sweden has been particularly hard hit following industrial closures. Västmanland in central Sweden also shows a clear increase, while Dalarna and the island of Gotland note some improvement.
Among young people (18–24 years), the situation is particularly serious. 41,939 were registered as unemployed in June, corresponding to 7.8 percent according to the Swedish Public Employment Service’s measure. This occurs while many are newly registering and competition for jobs is increasing.
Experts also point out that the real unemployment rate may be significantly higher than the official figures. Many unemployed people are not registered with the Swedish Public Employment Service and are therefore not included in the statistics.
According to Statistics Sweden’s (SCB) labor force surveys, there are also approximately 200,000 people who are outside the labor force but still want to work – for example, part-time unemployed, long-term unemployed, or people in education who are actively job searching.
The Swedish people continue to struggle with deteriorating household finances while politicians prioritize billions in support to countries at war as well as larger military expenditures.
Inflation continues at high levels
According to the National Institute of Economic Research, price inflation remains at an elevated level in Sweden. Statistics Sweden (SCB) reports that the consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.8 percent in July compared to the previous month, corresponding to an annual rate of approximately 4.1 percent.
The high annual rate is described as being driven by continued energy price increases, rising transport costs, and disruptions in global supply chains.
The Swedish central bank’s (Riksbank) preferred inflation measure, CPIF (CPI with fixed interest rate), was preliminarily measured at approximately 3.0 percent on an annual basis in July, compared to 2.9 percent in June. The difference between CPI and CPIF is mainly because CPI includes interest costs that have had a major impact, while CPIF excludes these and therefore provides a clearer picture of underlying price developments.
This means that even though price increases based on monthly data are relatively moderate right now, the more stable CPIF inflation continues to be above the Riksbank’s target of 2 percent. For many households, this means continued increased living costs and reduced purchasing power, especially in combination with rising interest rates and a weakened Swedish krona.
Politicians and media promised that mass immigration would make Sandviken, Sweden into an economic success story. Ten years later, reality is much bleaker: half the city is now classified as an exclusion area and compared to notorious problem suburbs like Rinkeby and Tjärna Ängar.
In 2014, left-liberal media, led by the Bonnier-owned Dagens Nyheter (Sweden’s largest daily newspaper), trumpeted that mass migration to Sandviken was a gigantic profitable venture that would make the entire municipality economically prosperous.
“Earns over half a billion from immigration”, read DN’s headline, claiming that each immigrant resident would generate €13,000 annually in revenue for the municipality.
The claims were based on figures in a report by auditing firm PwC and had been commissioned by the municipality itself.
Mass immigration was supposed to be a success for Sandviken. Photo: facsimile/DN
However, the optimistic calculations were based on fantasies and wishful thinking, and within just a couple of years it became clear that the municipality’s financial situation had instead become severely strained – with a budget deficit of €6 million.
— It was a fantasy scenario that was painted. The report was flawed from the beginning. How could anyone stand behind it?wondered Moderate Party opposition councilor Jonny Bratberg in 2019.
“White flight”
And since then, the situation has hardly improved. No billion-euro profits from mass immigration have materialized. Instead, the Swedish government now classifies half of Sandviken as an “exclusion area” – on the same list as notorious immigrant-dense and crime-ridden suburbs like Rinkeby (in Stockholm), Tjärna Ängar in Borlänge, and Gottsunda in Uppsala.
Surveillance cameras now sit on almost every street corner, and Emma Holmqvist, a segregation researcher at Uppsala University, notes that a large portion of the ethnically Swedish population has fled from immigrant-dense parts of Sandviken – and that other Swedes avoid moving there.
— ‘White flight, white avoidance’ is what we call it, says Emma Holmqvist.
— In long-term studies we can see that those with high incomes are partly driving spirals of segregation. They have housing choices that low-income earners lack. They can move away from an area with rental apartments and negative development, simply by purchasing housing.
Swedes don’t want to live with immigrants
She emphasizes, however, that people – regardless of group affiliation – tend to want to live near people who are like themselves, and that this applies to both families with children and high-income earners.
— But one thing that stands out is that many with immigrant backgrounds tend to want to live with more Swedes – the opposite rarely applies to native-born Swedes, she notes.
That Swedes in Sandviken don’t want to live together with immigrants is pointed out as a major and acute problem that must be solved by politicians – for example, by building more rental apartments in villa neighborhoods.
Children as integration tools
The municipality’s politicians have previously attracted attention in connection with a heavily criticized integration initiative where they made the decision to forcibly relocate mainly Swedish children from villa areas to an immigrant-dense, low-performing school in an exclusion area.
The decision enraged many parents and was described as a kind of “social experiment,” where children were involuntarily made into tools in politicians’ integration policy project.
— This is some form of Social Democratic wet dream, where you mix up the students in yet another integration project. You take an A-school and exchange half the students with a D-school, and then you get two C-schools instead – so everyone becomes satisfied and happy. It’s completely insane, of course, commented Jonny Bratberg on the matter in Tidningen Näringslivet (a Swedish business publication).
Montage. Photo: Magnus Liljegren/Government Offices of Sweden, IDF/CC BY-SA 3.0
Swedish politician Ebba Busch and her party's support for Israel continues to be virtually limitless - despite warnings of ethnic cleansing, genocide and war crimes.
While increasing voices condemn the Israeli invasion of Gaza as an ongoing genocide and Prime Minister Netanyahu openly speaks of occupying the entire area, Swedish Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch chooses instead to praise Israel’s war.
— Israel is doing the whole world a service, she declares, pointing to Hamas as solely responsible for the suffering and destruction in the region.
The statement comes after the Swedish government announced it wants to freeze the EU’s trade agreement with Israel, in an attempt to increase pressure to get humanitarian aid into Gaza. But the decision has met with criticism, particularly from the Christian Democrats – a party that has long acted as one of Israel’s most loyal defenders in Swedish politics, support that seems unaffected by whatever war crimes or crimes against humanity Israel has been accused of.
Busch herself expresses some reservation about the government’s line, arguing that the message was presented in an unbalanced way:
— The focus became one-sided, she claims.
In a Facebook post, the Christian Democrat leader writes that the government’s position may be reconsidered:
“If Israel does more or if it turns out that there is no basis for Israel bearing a great responsibility for the emergency aid not getting through, there is no reason to maintain the government’s position”.
She adds that “it is unambiguous that Hamas bears the great responsibility for the war and the human suffering in Gaza”.
“Need to increase pressure on Hamas”
While Israel’s invasion and bombings have led to tens of thousands of killed women and children, extensive civilian devastation and harsh international condemnations, Busch chooses to fully defend the country’s actions.
— The root of the war we see between Israel and Hamas is precisely Hamas. It was Hamas that started this war with the terrible terrorist act almost two years ago. It is Hamas that chooses to continue holding hostages, it is Hamas that chooses not to sign peace agreements. And we need to increase pressure on Hamas to lay down their weapons, she says.
— Israel is doing the whole world a service in trying to neutralize Hamas and trying to dissolve Hamas.
When asked if she stands behind the government’s message about working to freeze the trade agreement, Busch answers:
— We have opened up for the far-reaching measure of putting higher economic pressure on Israel, if it is the case that Israel is not doing everything within reason’s limits to let humanitarian support through.
Won’t comment on occupation plans
Recently, the Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to occupy the entire Gaza Strip. Busch, however, does not want to reveal whether she supports these plans or not.
— I haven’t seen that and then I don’t want to comment on it.
The government’s message has also stirred emotions domestically. The very pro-Israeli Sweden Democrats’ party leader Jimmie Åkesson called the decision a “disaster” in a post on X. Ebba Busch, however, does not want to answer whether the Sweden Democrats can be given influence over foreign policy going forward:
— Now we have the agreement that we have now, she says.
