Support for euro clearly down

If there had been a referendum on the euro in May 2011, about 64 percent would have voted no to the euro while about 24 percent would have voted yes. About 12 percent would not have known how they would vote. The percentage of no votes has increased and is statistically significant, while the percentage of yes votes is statistically significant and has decreased compared to November 2010.

Among both men and women the percentage of yes votes has decreased and is statistically significant and the percentage of no votes has increased since November 2010. In May 2011 roughly 65 percent of the women and roughly 63 percent of the men would have voted no in a referendum. The corresponding figures for November 2010 were about 60 percent for women and 57 percent for men. The percentage of yes votes among the women has decreased from about 25 percent in November to about 22 percent in May 2011. Among the men the percentage of yes votes has decreased from about 32 percent in November to about 27 percent in May.

Percentage who would vote yes and no to the euro in May 2011, broken down by sex. Percent

	May 2011					Nov. 2010			May 2010
	Yes	No	Do not know	Total	Number of responses	Yes	No	Do not know	Yes	No	Do not know
Total	24.1	63.7	12.2	100	6 147	28.5	58.4	13.0	27.5	60.0	12.5
Women	21.7	64.7	13.6	100	3 050	25.4	60.0	14.6	23.7	62.0	14.3
Men	26.6	62.6	10.8	100	3 097	31.7	56.9	11.4	31.4	58.0	10.6

Note: As of May 2011, the results are weighted for EU and euro preference to reduce the effects of non-response. The results backwards in time have been recalculated and weighted. For more information, see the section "Changes in May 2011".

EMU/euro preferences 1997-2011. Percent

Of those who replied in November 2010 that they would vote yes to the euro, about 68 percent would still vote yes, while about 20 percent now in May 2011 would vote no. The remaining 11 percent did not know how they would vote. Among those who would have voted no in November, about 90 percent would still vote no, about 5 percent would vote yes and about 5 percent do not know. Of those who in November 2010 did not have an opinion about the question, about 13 percent now say they would vote yes and about 41 percent would vote no. About 46 percent still lack an opinion about the question.

Voting yes or no to the euro (euro preference) in May 2011, distribution of answers by euro preference in November 2010. Percent

Euro preference November 2010	Voting yes or no to the euro (euro preference), May 2011
	YES	NO	Do not know	Total	Number of responses
Will be voting Yes	68.3	20.4	11.3	100	1 034
Will be voting no	4.7	90.4	4.9	100	2 085
Do not know	13.2	41.0	45.7	100	450

Reduced support for Euro membership

The proportion of those who say they are mainly for Sweden’s EU membership in May 2011 is about 52 percent. The proportion against EU membership was about 21 percent, and the proportion that did not have an opinion was about 27 percent.

Compared to November 2010, the proportion for EU membership has dropped and is statistically significant, while the proportion that is against EU membership has increased and is statistically significant. The proportion that does not have an opinion about the question has increased and is statistically significant. Among women we note a statistically significant decrease in the proportion for EU membership. Among men, the decrease in the proportion that is for, the increase in the proportion against and the increase in the proportion that do not have an opinion is statistically significant.

Percentage who would vote for and against membership in May 2011, broken down by sex. Percent

	May 2011					Nov. 2010			May 2010
	For	Against	Do not know	Total	Number of responses	For	Against	Do not know	For	Against	Do not know
Total	51.9	20.9	27.2	100	6 147	55.2	18.9	25.9	54.7	20.4	25.0
Women	48.2	20.2	31.6	100	3 050	50.4	19.1	30.5	49.3	21.6	29.1
Men	55.7	21.6	22.7	100	3 097	60.2	18.7	21.1	60.2	19.1	20.8

Note: As of May 2011, the results are weighted for EU and euro preference to reduce the effects of non-response. The results backwards in time have also been recalculated and weighted. For more information, see the section "Changes in May 2011".

EU preferences 1992-2011 Percent

Of those who in November 2010 answered that they were for Sweden's membership in the EU, about 82 percent remain steadfast, while about 5 percent are now against and about 13 percent do not have an opinion about the question. Among those who would have voted against EU membership in November, about 77 percent would still be against, about 7 percent would be for and about 15 percent do not know. Of those who in November 2010 did not have an opinion about the question, about 26 percent now say they are for EU membership and about 17 percent are against. About 57 percent still lack an opinion about the question.

For or against EU membership (EU preference) in May 2011, distribution of answers by euro preference in November 2010. Percent

EU preference in November 2010	For or Against EU membership (EU preference), May 2011
	For	Against	Do not know	Total	Number of responses
For	81.8	4.8	13.4	100	2 034
Against	7.4	77.4	15.1	100	660
Do not know	25.7	17.3	57.0	100	875

Changes May 2011

As of May 2011, the results are weighted for EU and euro preference to reduce the effects of non-response. The weighting is done with consideration to sex and age, education, country of birth and region. However, a comparison with unweighted estimations shows that the weighting has little effect on the majority of the estimations. The changes are nearly exclusively within the margins of error. New tables with weighted results from previous surveys have been created in Statistics Sweden's Statistical Database to compare backwards in time. Previously published unweighted results will also be available for some time ahead on Statistics Sweden's website.

As of May 2011 the results of the EU and euro preference will no longer be published in a Statistical Report, but in two table publications as well as in Statistics Sweden's Statistical Database.

Definitions and explanations

The party preference survey in May 2011 was conducted by telephone interviews of a national random probability sample consisting of 9 123 persons entitled to vote in the parliamentary election, without an upper age limit. Of these persons, 13.1 percent could not be reached (including unlisted telephone numbers and those without telephones), 3.0 percent were too ill to be interviewed and 16.5 percent did not want to be interviewed. The total non-response rate was 32.6 percent. A total of 6 147 interviews were conducted. In addition, some persons did not want to answer certain questions. The interviews were conducted by telephone during the period 1 - 26 May. The majority of the interviews were conducted during the first half of the measuring period. By 15 May, 79 percent of the interviews had been conducted.

The results are presented in intervals or point estimations ± margins of error. The interval that is created of the percent estimation ± margin of error here is a 95 percent confidence interval, which is an interval with a 95 percent probability including the actual value of the population, if no systematic errors occur.

Statistical database

More information is available in the Statistical database.

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Information on the quality of the statistics, production methods and frequently requested tables and graphs.

Next publishing will be

The Political Party Preference Survey for November 2011 will be published on 7 December 2011 at 09:30

EU and euro preferences in November 2011 will be published on 13 December 2011 at 09:30

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Statistics Sweden, Democracy Statistics
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Johan Eklund
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