Small localities 2020:
More men than women in small localities
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2022-03-31 8.00
According to 2020 data, 273,000 people live in a small locality; that is, in a settlement area with 50–199 inhabitants. This corresponds to 3 percent of the Swedish population. The population of small localities is broken down into 52 percent men and 48 percent women.
Out of Sweden’s 21 counties, Gotland has the highest proportion of people living in small localities. There, 9 percent of the county’s population live in a small locality. This is followed by Jämtland County with 7 percent. The lowest proportion, 1 percent, is found in Stockholm County.
Source: Statistics Sweden
Growing localities give new small localities
Compared with the 2015 survey, the number and percentage of residents of small localities has decreased. The decrease is partly due to adjustments in Statistics Sweden’s method for calculating the statistics. However, the decrease can also be due to actual changes in settlement and population. Changes in small localities are often linked to changes in nearby localities. Growing localities can give rise to new small localities, in that completely new settlements emerge in the expansive regions. If the expansion occurs in stages, the area can form a small locality in the statistics, to then reach the size of a locality in the final construction stage. Increased construction can also lead to small localities growing and merging with localities, in which case they cease to be areas in their own right in the statistics.
In less expansive areas, a declining population can lead to more small localities, if the population of a locality declines to fewer than 200 inhabitants. If the population declines even further, to fewer than 50 inhabitants, it can no longer be classified as a small locality in Statistics Sweden’s statistics. The population of that place is then included in the category “outside of localities and small localities”.
The small localities of Västmanland have most women
For the first time, Statistics Sweden is publishing statistics on sex and age categories for the population of small localities. The statistics are broken down by individual small localities, and by counties and municipalities.
- “Detailed population statistics, including for smaller settlement areas, have been requested by our users. It is highly rewarding to be able to offer this now,” comments Karin Hedeklint, product manager for Statistics Sweden statistics on small localities.
In Sweden’s small localities, the population is broken down into 52 percent men and 48 percent women. The small localities of Västmanland have the highest proportion of women, at 49 percent Norrbotten County has the lowest proportion, at 47 percent.
Source: Statistics Sweden
Children and youths aged 0–19 years make up 22 percent of the total population of small localities. The proportion of people of retirement age (65 years and older) make up 24 percent of the total. The county that has the highest proportion of children and youths in small localities is Uppsala, with 27 percent. The lowest proportion of children and youths in small localities is in Kalmar County at 20 percent.
Source: Statistics Sweden
10 percent live outside of localities and small localities
At the end of 2020, 10 percent of Sweden’s population lived outside of localities and smaller qualities The highest proportion, 29 percent, was in Gotland County. The lowest proportion, 2 percent, was in Stockholm County.
In two of the country’s municipalities, more than half of the population lived outside of localities and small localities. This was in Bjurholm in Västerbotten County and Ydre in Östergötland County.
Source: Statistics Sweden
Maps and geodata
Open geodata for small localities: Open geodata for small localities (scb.se)
Statistics Sweden’s map search tool for regional breakdowns: SCB Regina Web Map
Definitions and explanations
A statistical small locality is an area with a continuous settlement and 50–199 registered inhabitants. Information on population is retrieved from Statistics Sweden’s registers, which are combined with address data.
In the statistics, the term “statistical small locality” is used to indicate that the statistics are based on a classification of small localities, for which register data and statistics form the basis. Statistics Sweden’s small localities can therefore differ from how other parts of society define and delimit small localities in Sweden.
Publication
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.