Final income and taxes 2015:
Capital income leads to increased income differences
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2017-01-31 9.30
Capital income has increased sharply for Sweden’s households, which is the main reason for the increase in income differences. In 2015, capital income was over SEK 340 billion. In 2015 prices, capital income was SEK 65 billion in 1995 and roughly SEK 150 billion in 2005. In 1995, capital income accounted for 3 percent of total disposable income for Sweden’s households. In 2015 that figure was 15 percent.
Capital income has increased mainly among those with high disposable incomes. In the ten percent of the population with the highest incomes in 2015, the total capital income was nearly as high as the amount earned on work, that is, salaries and income from business. More than 85 percent of capital income in 2015 went to the ten percent of the population with the highest income.
The percentage of people at risk of poverty, that is, those with an income that is lower than 60 percent of the median income, has increased, and was 14.8 percent in 2015. In 1995, the percentage was 7.3 percent, and in 2005 it was 10.1 percent.
The percentage at risk of poverty has increased mainly among those who are not gainfully employed. Among people aged 20–64 years who were not gainfully employed, 38 percent were at risk of poverty in 2015. This proportion was 13 percent in 1995 and 23 percent in 2005.
Definitions and explanations
Capital income refers to interest and dividends, as well as profit that arises from sales of, for example, property or shares. Disposable income refers to the sum of all taxable and non-taxable income minus taxes and other negative transfers.
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.