Population by Labour market status, August 2026

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2026-10-27 8.00

People in employment aged 15 to 74 numbered 5 468 000 in August in 2026. The number of employed increased by 46 000 people compared with August 2025. In the 20 to 65 age range, 271 000 people were unemployed. This equals a share of 5.2 percent expressed as a percentage of the labour force and is a decrease by 0.3 percentage points compared with the same period of the previous year.

People in employment

The number of people in employment aged 15 to 74 increased by 46 000 people in August compared to the same period the previous year, but the trend varies depending on sex and region of birth.

Percentage change in the number of employed compared to the same period the previous year, 15 to 74 years

	Women born in Sweden	Men born in Sweden	Foreign born women	Foreign born men	Total
202101	-2.5	-1.9	0.5	0.1	-1.7
202102	-2.3	-1.7	0.5	0.3	-1.5
202103	-2.2	-1.5	0.8	0.8	-1.3
202104	-1.2	-1.0	1.7	1.6	-0.6
202105	1.1	0.3	4.9	4.2	1.4
202106	1.8	0.9	6.2	5.8	2.3
202107	2.3	1.4	7.0	6.7	2.8
202108	2.3	1.6	7.0	7.1	2.9
202109	2.2	1.6	7.1	7.4	3.0
202110	2.1	1.4	7.0	7.8	2.9
202111	2.0	1.4	7.3	8.2	2.9
202112	1.8	1.6	7.0	8.7	3.0
202201	2.7	2.0	8.3	9.2	3.6
202202	2.4	1.7	8.1	9.0	3.4
202203	2.4	1.8	8.1	9.1	3.4
202204	2.5	1.7	8.5	9.2	3.5
202205	2.7	2.0	9.1	9.4	3.8
202206	2.4	1.8	9.0	9.0	3.5
202207	1.9	1.7	8.5	8.2	3.1
202208	1.4	1.4	7.8	7.6	2.7
202209	1.5	1.3	7.7	7.3	2.7
202210	1.8	1.3	7.6	7.0	2.8
202211	1.2	1.0	7.0	6.3	2.3
202212	1.0	0.6	6.6	5.6	1.9
202301	0.8	0.5	6.2	5.2	1.8
202302	0.9	0.6	6.1	5.2	1.8
202303	0.8	0.4	5.9	4.8	1.6
202304	0.7	0.3	5.6	4.3	1.4
202305	0.4	0.1	5.1	3.7	1.1
202306	0.4	0.0	4.9	3.3	1.0
202307	0.5	0.0	4.5	2.8	1.0
202308	0.2	-0.1	4.0	2.4	0.7
202309	0.3	-0.2	3.9	2.1	0.7
202310	0.0	-0.4	3.6	1.8	0.4
202311	0.1	-0.4	3.3	1.6	0.4
202312	0.0	-0.5	2.9	1.1	0.2
202401	0.1	-0.4	2.7	0.9	0.2
202402	-0.1	-0.5	2.5	0.6	0.1
202403	-0.1	-0.6	2.4	0.3	0.0
202404	-0.2	-0.6	2.1	0.1	-0.1
202405	-0.3	-0.7	1.9	0.0	-0.2
202406	-0.2	-0.6	1.6	-0.1	-0.2
202407	-0.2	-0.7	1.5	-0.4	-0.3
202408	-0.3	-0.8	1.9	-0.2	-0.3
202409	-0.3	-0.7	2.0	-0.1	-0.2
202410	-0.6	-0.8	1.7	0.0	-0.4
202411	-0.5	-0.7	1.8	0.1	-0.3
202412	-0.6	-0.8	1.9	0.2	-0.3
202501	-0.7	-0.8	1.8	0.2	-0.4
202502	-0.5	-0.7	2.0	0.5	-0.2
202503	-0.5	-0.6	2.0	0.6	-0.2
202504	-0.5	-0.5	2.0	0.7	-0.1
202505	-0.2	-0.2	2.3	1.0	0.2
202506	-0.4	-0.4	2.2	0.9	0.0
202507	-0.3	-0.3	2.1	1.0	0.1
202508	-0.3	-0.3	1.7	0.7	0.0
202509	0.0	-0.2	1.8	0.8	0.2
202510	0.0	-0.1	1.8	1.0	0.3
202511	0.1	0.0	1.9	1.2	0.4
202512	0.0	-0.1	1.8	1.1	0.3
202601	0.1	0.0	2.0	1.4	0.4
202602	0.1	0.0	2.0	1.4	0.4
202603	0.2	0.0	2.0	1.5	0.5
202604	0.2	0.2	2.1	1.6	0.6
202605	0.1	0.1	2.2	1.7	0.5
202606	0.2	0.2	2.2	1.7	0.6
202607	0.3	0.3	2.3	1.7	0.7
202608	0.4	0.4	2.5	1.9	0.8

Source

Statistics Sweden

In the 20 to 65 age range the employment rate – the number of employed people in relation to the population – was 80.8 percent among women and 82.3 percent among men. Compared with August 2025, the employment rate increased by 0.4 percentage points for women and 0.5 for men.

The unemployed

The number of unemployed people aged 20 to 65 in August was 271 000, which is a decrease of 17 000 compared to the same period the previous year.

The relative unemployment rate - the proportion of unemployed people in relation to the labour force - was 5.3 percent for women and 5.0 percent for men. This equals a decreased unemployment rate among women of 0.3 percentage point and 0.4 percentage points decrease among men compared with the same period of 2025.

Unemployment is higher among foreign born people than among those born in Sweden. In August the unemployment rate was, among foreign born people 10.9 percent and among people born in Sweden 3.2 percent.

Change in the relative unemployment rate compared to the same period the previous year, 20 to 64 years

	Men born in Sweden	Women born in Sweden	Foreign born men	Foreign born women	Total
202101	1.1	0.9	2.2	1.7	1.3
202102	1.1	0.8	2.1	1.8	1.3
202103	0.9	0.7	1.9	1.8	1.1
202104	0.6	0.5	1.2	1.3	0.8
202105	0.1	0.0	-0.3	-0.1	0.1
202106	-0.4	-0.4	-1.7	-1.0	-0.6
202107	-0.7	-0.7	-2.4	-1.8	-0.9
202108	-0.8	-0.8	-2.8	-2.0	-1.1
202109	-0.9	-0.8	-3.0	-2.2	-1.2
202110	-0.9	-0.8	-3.3	-2.2	-1.2
202111	-0.9	-0.8	-3.4	-2.4	-1.3
202112	-0.9	-0.7	-3.6	-2.3	-1.3
202201	-1.1	-0.9	-4.0	-2.9	-1.5
202202	-1.2	-0.9	-4.1	-2.9	-1.6
202203	-1.2	-0.9	-4.1	-2.9	-1.6
202204	-1.1	-0.9	-4.0	-3.0	-1.5
202205	-1.0	-0.8	-4.0	-3.1	-1.5
202206	-1.0	-0.8	-3.9	-3.3	-1.5
202207	-0.8	-0.7	-3.5	-3.1	-1.3
202208	-0.8	-0.6	-3.1	-2.8	-1.2
202209	-0.7	-0.5	-2.9	-2.7	-1.1
202210	-0.6	-0.5	-2.6	-2.6	-1.0
202211	-0.5	-0.4	-2.2	-2.4	-0.8
202212	-0.4	-0.3	-1.9	-2.2	-0.7
202301	-0.3	-0.3	-1.7	-2.0	-0.6
202302	-0.3	-0.2	-1.6	-1.9	-0.6
202303	-0.2	-0.2	-1.4	-1.9	-0.5
202304	-0.1	-0.2	-1.2	-1.7	-0.4
202305	0.0	-0.1	-0.9	-1.6	-0.3
202306	0.0	-0.1	-0.7	-1.4	-0.2
202307	0.1	0.0	-0.5	-1.1	-0.1
202308	0.1	0.0	-0.4	-1.0	-0.1
202309	0.2	0.1	-0.2	-0.9	0.0
202310	0.2	0.1	-0.1	-0.7	0.1
202311	0.3	0.1	0.0	-0.6	0.1
202312	0.3	0.2	0.2	-0.4	0.2
202401	0.4	0.2	0.3	-0.2	0.3
202402	0.5	0.3	0.4	-0.2	0.3
202403	0.5	0.3	0.5	-0.2	0.3
202404	0.5	0.3	0.6	0.1	0.4
202405	0.5	0.3	0.6	0.0	0.4
202406	0.5	0.3	0.6	0.1	0.4
202407	0.6	0.4	0.8	0.3	0.5
202408	0.6	0.4	0.8	0.3	0.5
202409	0.6	0.4	0.8	0.4	0.5
202410	0.5	0.4	0.7	0.5	0.5
202411	0.5	0.4	0.7	0.7	0.5
202412	0.5	0.4	0.7	0.7	0.5
202501	0.5	0.4	0.7	0.7	0.5
202502	0.4	0.3	0.5	0.7	0.5
202503	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.7	0.4
202504	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.6	0.3
202505	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.5	0.3
202506	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.5	0.3
202507	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.3	0.3
202508	0.2	0.2	0.0	0.2	0.2
202509	0.2	0.2	-0.1	0.1	0.2
202510	0.1	0.1	-0.3	-0.1	0.1
202511	0.1	0.1	-0.5	-0.4	0.0
202512	0.1	0.1	-0.7	-0.5	-0.1
202601	0.0	0.0	-1.0	-0.7	-0.2
202602	0.0	0.0	-1.0	-0.7	-0.2
202603	0.0	0.0	-1.1	-0.7	-0.2
202604	-0.1	0.0	-1.1	-0.7	-0.2
202605	0.0	0.0	-1.1	-0.7	-0.2
202606	-0.1	0.0	-1.2	-0.7	-0.3
202607	-0.1	0.0	-1.2	-0.9	-0.3
202608	-0.1	-0.1	-1.3	-1.0	-0.3

Source

Statistics Sweden

Employed, 15 to 74 years

	August 2026	July 2026	August 2025	Change since August 2025 (%)
Employed	5 468 000	5 508 000	5 422 000	0.8
Women	2 648 000	2 674 000	2 624 000	0.9
Born in Sweden	2 051 000	2 070 000	2 042 000	0.4
Foreign born	597 000	605 000	583 000	2.5
Men	2 820 000	2 834 000	2 798 000	0.8
Born in Sweden	2 163 000	2 174 000	2 153 000	0.4
Foreign born	657 000	660 000	645 000	1.9

Source

Statistics Sweden

People in the labour force, 20 to 65 years

	August 2026	July 2026	August 2025	Change since August 2025
Employed	4 981 000	5 002 000	4 945 000	0.7
Women	2 420 000	2 434 000	2 401 000	0.8
Men	2 561 000	2 567 000	2 544 000	0.7
Employment rate (%)	81.6	81.9	81.1	0.4
Women	80.8	81.3	80.4	0.4
Born in Sweden	85.5	85.9	85.3	0.2
Foreign born	68.3	69.1	67.4	0.9
Men	82.3	82.5	81.8	0.5
Born in Sweden	85.4	85.6	85.2	0.3
Foreign born	73.9	74.1	72.8	1.1
Unemployment	271 000	262 000	288 000	-5.9
Women	135 000	129 000	141 000	-4.4
Born in Sweden	54 000	51 000	55 000	-1.5
Foreign born	81 000	78 000	86 000	-6.2
Men	136 000	133 000	147 000	-7.4
Born in Sweden	73 000	71 000	75 000	-2.4
Foreign born	63 000	63 000	72 000	-12.6
Relative unemployment rate (%)	5.2	5.0	5.5	-0.3
Women	5.3	5.0	5.6	-0.3
Born in Sweden	2.8	2.7	2.9	0.0
Foreign born	12.5	12.0	13.5	-1.0
Men	5.0	4.9	5.5	-0.4
Born in Sweden	3.6	3.5	3.7	-0.1
Foreign born	9.2	9.1	10.6	-1.3

Source

Statistics Sweden

People not in the labour force, 20 to 65 years

	August 2026	July 2026	August 2025	Change since August 2025 (%)
Students	52 000	23 000	37 000	40.9
Women	31 000	13 000	21 000	44.1
Men	22 000	10 000	16 000	36.6
Retirees	63 000	61 000	71 000	-10.7
Women	33 000	31 000	37 000	-11.6
Men	30 000	30 000	34 000	-9.9
Sick	222 000	221 000	224 000	-1.1
Women	122 000	122 000	124 000	-1.3
Men	99 000	99 000	100 000	-0.9
Others	518 000	537 000	529 000	-2.2
Women	256 000	265 000	262 000	-2.4
Men	262 000	272 000	268 000	-1.9

Source

Statistics Sweden

Definitions and explanations

BAS, Population by Labour market status, presents statistics based on administrative data concerning aspects such as number of people in employment, unemployed people, and people outside the labour force for the registered population aged 15 to 74. The statistics can be used to describe current status, but also the progression over time. It illuminates both the entire population and smaller groups, such as detailed age groups at the municipal level.

The statistics contain estimates of the number of people broken down by labour market status: Employed, unemployed, student, retiree, sick and others. The definition of labour market status is hierarchical, which means that a person can only be assigned one labour market status, and it is determined according to the order of precedence above.

The labour force consists of employed people and the unemployed.

The labour market status categories that are outside the labour force are student, retiree, sick and others. There are fewer people outside the labour force in the summer than during other parts of the year. This is mainly because some people who are students during term time work during the summer and are then classified as employed.

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Population by Labour market status, August 2026

People in employment

The unemployed

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