By gender, women represented most employed persons in the civil society sector in 2024, corresponding to 123,800 employed persons, and thus accounted for approximately 5 percent of the total number of employed women in Sweden. The corresponding share for men in the civil society sector was 3 percent, with 80,200 employed persons.

“The share of employed women in the civil society sector remained high in 2024. Over time, the proportion of women in the civil society sector has increased, from 58 percent of the total number of employed persons in 2013 to 61 percent in 2024,” says Robin Bergkvist, statistician at Statistics Sweden.

By age, the largest number of employed persons in the civil society sector was found in the age group 35–54 years, with 80,400 employed persons. The second largest group was in the 55–74 age range, with 61,200 employed persons, which also corresponded to approximately 5 percent of Sweden’s employed persons in that age group. This pattern differs from Sweden as a whole, where the second largest age group instead consisted of individuals aged 15–34 years. A breakdown of employed persons by level of education shows that most of those employed in the civil society sector had post-secondary education in 2024.

By area of activity according to ICNPO, the majority of employed persons in the civil society sector were found in “Education and research”, “Religion”, and “Culture and recreation”. Together, these three accounted for 51 percent of the total number of employed persons in 2024.

The number of employed persons aged 15–34 years was highest in the field of “Culture and recreation”, where they accounted for approximately 43 percent of the total number of employed persons. The largest number of employed persons aged 35–54 years was found in “Education and research”, corresponding to approximately 46 percent of the total number of employed persons in that field. The largest number of employed persons aged 55–74 years by area of activity were found in “Religion”, where this age group accounted for 40 percent of the total number of employed persons. The number of employed persons aged 75 years and above was highest in the field of “Development and housing”, where this group accounted for approximately 18 percent of the total number of employed persons.

The level of education among employed persons in the civil society sector was high in 2024, with post-secondary education dominating across all fields of activity except “Social services” and “Not elsewhere classified”. The largest number of employed persons with post-secondary education was found in the field of “Education and research”, followed by “Religion” and “Culture and recreation”. Within “Religion” the largest number of employed persons with upper secondary education in the civil society sector was found, while the largest number of employed persons with primary and lower secondary was found in the area of activity “Culture and recreation”.

Membership in a political party

Statistics covering the civil society sector also include statistics on citizens’ participation within the civil society. For the reference year 2024, this includes, among other things, data on membership in a political party.

Over recent decades, the share of individuals who are members of a political party has declined. In the early 1980s, approximately 14 percent of the population aged 16–84 were members of a political party, while in 2024 the corresponding share was about 5 percent.

In 2024, it was more common to be a member of a political party in the age group 80 years and older than in the age group 16–19. In the 80 years and older age group, 7.7 percent were party members in 2024, compared with 3.4 percent in the 16–19 age group.