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Localities 2016:

Population in localities increased by 120 000

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2017-04-05 9.30

In 2016, the population in localities increased by more than 120 000 people. The Stockholm locality accounted for the largest increase, of more than 23 500 persons. In relation to the entire population of the Stockholm locality, which is 1.5 million, this is an increase of 1.6 percent.

At the end of 2016, nearly 8.7 million people in Sweden lived in a locality. This corresponds to 87 percent of the country’s population. Our largest localities, that is, localities with at least 30 000 inhabitants, had 4.9 million inhabitants. Among these, Uppsala locality had the largest population growth in relation to its size; the population increased by 2.3 percent here in 2016.

None of the major localities had a population decrease. The smallest increase, 0.4 percent, or nearly 2 500 new inhabitants, was in Skellefteå.

Among all 1 979 localities, the eastern part of Malmberget decreased the most, by more than 160 persons; migration due to mining affects the population statistics there.

The ten largest localities in 2016
  Number of inhabitants 
  20152016DifferenceDifference
in percent
T0336 Stockholm 1 515 017 1 538 517 23 500 1.6
T4368 Göteborg 572 799 581 822 9 023 1.6
T3604 Malmö 301 706 307 496 5 790 1.9
T0656 Uppsala 149 245 152 617 3 372 2.3
T0384 Upplands Väsby and Sollentuna 139 606 141 964 2 358 1.7
T6376 Västerås 117 746 119 372 1 626 1.4
T6188 Örebro 115 765 117 543 1 778 1.5
T1152 Linköping 106 502 108 640 2 138 2.0
T3452 Helsingborg 104 250 106 338 2 088 2.0
T1192 Norrköping 93 765 95 618 1 853 2.0

Localities grew more dense by 20 inhabitants per square kilometre

In 2016, localities’ average population density increased by 20 persons per square kilometre, reaching 1 409. Fisksätra had the highest density, with 8 320 inhabitants per square kilometre.

Among the largest localities, Uppsala locality had the largest increase in population density, 77 inhabitants per square kilometre, reaching 3 489 inhabitants per square kilometre.

Definitions and explanations

The localities included in the statistics are defined in brief as continuous settlement with at least 200 inhabitants. Localities thus include everything from the largest cities to small areas with only 200 inhabitants.

Statistics on the 2016 population in localities was calculated using 2015 locality boundaries. This means that the statistics do not include people living in settlements that arose immediately outside the 2015 locality boundaries and that would be included in localities if their area distribution were updated.

This is also reason why the number of localities remains unchanged compared with 2015. Therefore, there are localities in the statistics that have a population of less than 200 inhabitants. Small locality groups that were not classified as localities in 2015 because the population was too small, but in which the population increased in 2016 to 200 inhabitants or more, are not included.

The next update of localities’ area distribution will be in 2019, with 31 December 2018 as a reference point. Until that time, yearly population updates will be carried out using the 2015 localities.

Next publishing will be

The next statistical news in this series will be published in 2018. 

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

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