Foreign ownership and expatriate Swedes ownership of holiday homes in Sweden 2015:

Norwegian ownership now the largest

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2016-03-21 9.30

37 438 holiday homes in Sweden are owned by foreigners. This is an increase of 1 percent compared to 2014 and 107 percent compared to 2000. Swedes living abroad own 12 981 holiday homes in the country. In 2015 foreign ownership of holiday homes in Sweden amounted to 6.5 percent while expatriate Swedes owned 2.3 percent of all holiday homes in the country.

Foreign ownership of holiday homes

Large differences among the counties

The regional variation of foreign holiday home ownership in relation to the total stock of holiday homes is significant. Foreign ownership is by far the greatest in Kronoberg County at 41 percent, but is also significant in Värmland at 24 percent, in Jönköping at 15 percent and in Blekinge at 12 percent. There are 12 counties where foreign ownership is less than 5 percent and in Stockholm, Uppsala, Södermanland, Gotland and Västmanland, foreign ownership is less than 1 percent of the stock.

Largest percentage increase in northern Sweden

The greatest number of foreign owned holiday homes can be found in Västra Götaland (7 408), Värmland (6 128), Kronoberg (4 727) and Skåne (3 851). However, the largest percentage increase in 2015 compared to 2014 has occurred in Sweden’s most northerly county Norrbotten, with an increase by 5 percent.

Owners mostly from Norway, Denmark and Germany

Owners primarily come from Norway (11 474), Denmark (11 267) and Germany (10 114). All of 88 percent of foreign owners come from these three countries. The fourth leading country of foreign owners is the Netherlands (1 413).

Norwegian ownership now the largest

Of the countries that account for the largest ownership of holiday homes in Sweden, only Norwegian ownership increased significantly in 2015. Last year Norwegians increased their holdings by 450 holiday homes, an increase of 4 percent. By contrast, the number of owners of holiday homes from Denmark decreased their holdings by 184 holiday homes in 2015, a decrease of 2 percent. The increase in the Norwegian ownership and the decrease in the Danish ownership in 2015 means that owners from Norway are now the owners of most holiday homes in Sweden. The number of owners from Germany and the Netherlands was relatively unchanged between 2015 and 2014. Ownership from other countries increased by 3 percent compared to 2014. Among these other countries, owners from Switzerland increased the most; their holdings of Swedish holiday homes increased by 27 holiday homes.

Germans bought first – Norwegians buy now

The number of foreign owned holiday homes has increased by 19 316 or 107 percent since 2000. Owners from Germany were the first who began to buy holiday homes in Sweden and by 2000 there were about 9 000 Swedish holiday homes owned by Germans; 15 years later this figure has increased to about 10 100. The Danes were most active in the Swedish holiday home market during the period 2000 - 2008 and then began to decline; in 2013, their ownership decreased by 91 holiday homes, in 2014 by 154 and in 2015 by 184 holiday homes. Although the Norwegian owners’ holdings of Swedish holiday homes increased by 450 homes, it was one of the smallest increases since 2000. Previous years' increases have remained relatively constant at about 600-700 holiday homes a year. Since 2000, the number of holiday homes owned by Norwegian and Danish owners has increased by 8 932 houses (351 percent) and 6 831 houses (154 percent).

Most foreign owners in Strömstad

The five municipalities with the most foreign owners are Strömstad, Tanum, Ljungby, Åre and Torsby. Only in these municipalities does the foreign ownership of holiday homes exceed 1 000 homes. There are 1 447 in Strömstad, 1 210 in Tanum, 1 138 in Ljungby, 1 072 in Åre and 1 038 in Torsby.

In 21 municipalities at least one third of the holiday homes are owned by foreigners. The greatest foreign ownership in relation to the municipality's total holiday home stock is in Markaryd where an entire 60 percent of the total holiday home stock is owned by foreigners, followed by Tingsryd and Munkfors with 50 percent and Älmhult with 49 percent.

Number of holiday homes owned by natural persons in 2015 and of which the foreign owners by country

County	Total number of holiday homes owned by natural persons	Of which those with owners from							Percentage of foreign owned holiday homes
		Denmark	Norway	Germany	Nether- lands	Other countries	Unknown country	Total
Stockholm	70 707	13	16	57	10	105	23	224	0.3
Uppsala	17 458	2	5	9	3	25	5	49	0.3
Södermanland	19 274	4	3	43	5	39	16	110	0.6
Östergötland	22 305	77	9	228	34	43	19	410	1.8
Jönköping	13 511	997	7	806	74	90	30	2 004	14.8
Kronoberg	11 650	3 195	17	1 296	83	86	50	4 727	40.6
Kalmar	29 908	600	36	2 011	118	136	77	2 978	10.0
Gotland	11 257	0	13	39	1	26	4	83	0.7
Blekinge	12 876	942	14	457	24	51	22	1 510	11.7
Skåne	41 725	2 834	78	619	44	191	85	3 851	9.2
Halland	21 215	1 234	43	475	22	61	29	1 864	8.8
Västra Götaland	74 480	609	4 622	1 616	136	256	169	7 408	9.9
Värmland	25 835	454	3 657	1 140	580	178	119	6 128	23.7
Örebro	14 433	39	23	226	59	45	11	403	2.8
Västmanland	9 247	0	5	9	4	23	7	48	0.5
Dalarna	43 240	160	315	367	82	130	30	1 084	2.5
Gävleborg	26 547	10	22	117	28	79	25	281	1.1
Västernorrland	23 722	11	53	154	27	118	31	394	1.7
Jämtland	29 563	41	1 361	219	51	97	20	1 789	6.1
Västerbotten	29 618	37	746	155	17	187	35	1 177	4.0
Norrbotten	26 813	8	429	71	11	362	35	916	3.4
Total	575 384	11 267	11 474	10 114	1 413	2 328	842	37 438	6.5

Further information on foreign ownership and presentation on a municipal level can be provided on order.

Expatriate Swedes’ ownership of holiday homes

In total there are 12 981 holiday homes located in Sweden owned by Swedes living abroad. Swedes living in Norway own the largest number of holiday homes in Sweden (2 679). This is followed by owners living in Germany (1 534), the United States (1 299), the United Kingdom, (1 193) and Switzerland (1 048). If we also add holiday home owners living in Denmark, France and Spain, these owners account for a total of 9 760 holiday homes in Sweden, which represents 75 percent of expatriate Swedes’ ownership of holiday homes in Sweden. The remaining 3 221 holiday homes are owned by Swedes living in 97 countries.

Expatriate Swedes own most holiday homes in Västra Götaland, Skåne and Stockholm

Most holiday homes owned by Swedes living abroad are in Västra Götaland, Skåne and Stockholm. 2 529 holiday homes in Västra Götaland, 2 056 in Skåne and 1 596 in Stockholm have Swedish owners living abroad. This distribution also applies to all countries reported in the table below except for owners from Norway. Instead they own most holiday homes in the neighbouring counties of Västra Götaland, Värmland, Jämtland and Dalarna.

There are 29 municipalities in which the expatriate Swedes own more than 100 holiday homes. Most of them are located in Värmdö (449), followed by Tanum (361), Norrtälje (337) and Båstad with 327 holiday homes. In fifth place comes Vellinge with 239 holiday homes. Vellinge is the municipality in the country with the highest percentage of homes relative to the overall stock of holiday homes owned by expatriates, 12 percent.

Number of holiday homes owned by natural persons in 2015 and of which expatriate Swedes by country

County	Total number of holiday homes owned by natural persons	Of which those with Swedish owners living in								Percentage of holiday homes owned by expatriate Swedes
		Norway	Switzer- land	United Kingdom	Germany	United States	Other countries	Unknown country	Total
Stockholm	70 707	73	189	211	146	231	746	0	1 596	2.3
Uppsala	17 458	22	20	22	19	32	103	0	218	1.2
Södermanland	19 274	18	20	49	54	51	162	0	354	1.8
Östergötland	22 305	43	35	37	55	44	171	0	385	1.7
Jönköping	13 511	17	14	26	74	22	150	0	303	2.2
Kronoberg	11 650	17	13	19	79	18	163	0	309	2.7
Kalmar	29 908	47	54	42	104	61	257	1	566	1.9
Gotland	11 257	26	15	20	22	25	75	0	183	1.6
Blekinge	12 876	25	32	23	51	31	154	0	316	2.5
Skåne	41 725	122	214	254	283	227	955	1	2 056	4.9
Halland	21 215	68	60	53	82	51	271	0	585	2.8
Västra Götaland	74 480	931	185	205	250	199	758	1	2 529	3.4
Värmland	25 835	577	36	34	70	36	194	0	947	3.7
Örebro	14 433	44	9	19	37	21	80	0	210	1.5
Västmanland	9 247	17	10	17	14	15	81	0	154	1.7
Dalarna	43 240	160	69	48	55	62	213	0	607	1.4
Gävleborg	26 547	59	21	34	32	48	145	0	339	1.3
Västernorrland	23 722	49	14	24	31	35	139	0	292	1.2
Jämtland	29 563	177	17	29	21	45	138	1	428	1.4
Västerbotten	29 618	97	11	16	34	28	102	0	288	1.0
Norrbotten	26 813	90	10	11	21	17	167	0	316	1.2
Total	575 384	2 679	1 048	1 193	1 534	1 299	5 224	4	12 981	2.3

Further information on expatriate Swedes ownership and presentation on a municipal level can be provided on order.

Definitions and explanations

This statistical news defines holiday home as assessment units or taxation units, which have no registered population, as a one- or two-dwelling building for agriculture (type coding 120), one- or two-dwelling building, built (type coding 220), one- or two-dwelling building, houses on leasehold (type coding 225) and one- or two-dwelling building, a building worth less than SEK 50 000 (type coding 213).

Foreign ownership implies that the owner responsible for his/her tax declaration does not have a Swedish address or a Swedish personal registration number. The country reported is where the owners have their addresses and only natural persons are included in the survey.

Expatriate Swedes’ ownership implies that the owner responsible for his/her tax declaration does not have a Swedish address but has a Swedish personal registration number. The country reported is where the owners have their addresses and only natural persons are included in the survey.

The information has been taken from the 2015 Real Estate Tax Assessment Register (FTR) and refers to the situation on 2015-01-01. Statistics Sweden receives the Real Estate Tax Assessment Register from National Tax Board.

The objects reported are assessment units or taxation units. Assessment units/taxation units are defined in FTR as that which is assessed or taxed in and of itself and generally consists of property with the building and a lot.

Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.