Population by Labour market status, July 2026

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2026-09-29 8.00

People in employment aged 15 to 74 numbered 5 508 000 in July in 2026. The number of employed increased by 39 000 people compared with July 2025. In the 20 to 65 age range, 262 000 people were unemployed. This equals a share of 5.0 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 39 000 people in July 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

Source

Statistics Sweden

In the 20 to 65 age range the employment rate – the number of employed people in relation to the population – was 81.3 percent among women and 82.5 percent among men. Compared with July 2025, the employment rate increased by 0.3 percentage points for women and 0.4 for men.

The unemployed

The number of unemployed people aged 20 to 65 in July was 262 000, which is a decrease of 16 000 compared to the same period the previous year.

The relative unemployment rate - the proportion of unemployed people in relation to the labour force - was 5.0 percent for women and 4.9 percent for men. This equals a decreased unemployment rate among women of 0.2 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 July the unemployment rate was, among foreign born people 10.5 percent and among people born in Sweden 3.1 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

Source

Statistics Sweden

Employed, 15 to 74 years

	July 2026	June 2026	July 2025	Change since July 2025 (%)
Employed	5 508 000	5 389 000	5 469 000	0.7
Women	2 674 000	2 619 000	2 654 000	0.8
Born in Sweden	2 070 000	2 023 000	2 062 000	0.3
Foreign born	605 000	596 000	591 000	2.3
Men	2 834 000	2 770 000	2 816 000	0.6
Born in Sweden	2 174 000	2 120 000	2 167 000	0.3
Foreign born	660 000	650 000	648 000	1.7

Source

Statistics Sweden

People in the labour force, 20 to 65 years

	July 2026	June 2026	July 2025	Change since July 2025
Employed	5 002 000	4 961 000	4 971 000	0.6
Women	2 434 000	2 414 000	2 418 000	0.7
Men	2 567 000	2 548 000	2 553 000	0.6
Employment rate (%)	81.9	81.3	81.6	0.3
Women	81.3	80.6	81.0	0.3
Born in Sweden	85.9	85.2	85.8	0.1
Foreign born	69.1	68.7	68.3	0.8
Men	82.5	81.9	82.1	0.4
Born in Sweden	85.6	84.9	85.5	0.2
Foreign born	74.1	73.7	73.1	1.0
Unemployment	262 000	267 000	278 000	-5.6
Women	129 000	131 000	134 000	-4.0
Born in Sweden	51 000	51 000	52 000	-0.9
Foreign born	78 000	79 000	83 000	-6.0
Men	133 000	136 000	143 000	-7.1
Born in Sweden	71 000	72 000	72 000	-2.5
Foreign born	63 000	65 000	71 000	-11.8
Relative unemployment rate (%)	5.0	5.1	5.3	-0.3
Women	5.0	5.1	5.3	-0.2
Born in Sweden	2.7	2.7	2.7	0.0
Foreign born	12.0	12.3	12.9	-0.9
Men	4.9	5.1	5.3	-0.4
Born in Sweden	3.5	3.6	3.6	-0.1
Foreign born	9.1	9.5	10.4	-1.2

Source

Statistics Sweden

People not in the labour force, 20 to 65 years

	July 2026	June 2026	July 2025	Change since July 2025 (%)
Students	23 000	39 000	24 000	-6.3
Women	13 000	22 000	14 000	-7.0
Men	10 000	17 000	10 000	-5.3
Retirees	61 000	61 000	67 000	-8.7
Women	31 000	31 000	35 000	-9.6
Men	30 000	30 000	32 000	-7.7
Sick	221 000	219 000	223 000	-1.1
Women	122 000	121 000	123 000	-1.2
Men	99 000	98 000	100 000	-0.9
Others	537 000	558 000	530 000	1.4
Women	265 000	276 000	260 000	1.9
Men	272 000	282 000	269 000	1.0

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.

Next publishing will be

2026-10-27

Changes for users retrieving information with the help of an API

In the fall of 2025, PxWebApi v1 was replaced by PxWebApi v2. PxWebApi v1 will remain up and running until, 31 December 2026, but will after that no longer be functional. For more information and instructions on conversion, please see PxWebApi v2

Statistical Database

More information is available in the Statistical Database

Cookies on scb.se

Population by Labour market status, July 2026

People in employment

The unemployed

Definitions and explanations

Next publishing will be

Changes for users retrieving information with the help of an API

Statistical Database

Statistical agency

Producer

Enquiries

Frida Vingren

Sofia Löfgren