Informal employment in Sweden
Sweden: Informal employment was 3.7% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Informal employment in Sweden, 2014–2024
Source: Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO). Measured in % of total non-agricultural employment.
Analysis
Sweden recorded 3.7% for informal employment in 2024.
The figure is down 0.6% on the previous year and up 15.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, informal employment in Sweden peaked at 4.2% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 2.6%, in 2018.
That places Sweden 35th out of 45 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 11 years of available data.
Informal employment in Sweden, year by year
| Year | % of total non-agricultural employment | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 3.2% | — |
| 2015 | 3.9% | +19.4% |
| 2016 | 3.2% | -15.9% |
| 2017 | 3.4% | +3.6% |
| 2018 | 2.6% | -23.2% |
| 2019 | 3.1% | +21.5% |
| 2020 | 2.7% | -13.0% |
| 2021 | 2.9% | +7.8% |
| 2022 | 4.2% | +41.4% |
| 2023 | 3.7% | -9.9% |
| 2024 | 3.7% | -0.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 3.2% | 2.6% | 3.9% | 6 |
| 2020s | 3.5% | 2.7% | 4.2% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sweden
More work & labour data for Sweden
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes, annual -0.0422 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male, annual growth -0.0602 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female, annual growth -0.0243 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population, annual growth rate -1.29 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population, annual growth rate 0.5427 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population 10,837 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population 788.88 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female 5,587 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male 5,780 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes 11,367 1000 No (2100)
Frequently asked questions
- What is informal employment in Sweden?
- Informal employment in Sweden was 3.7% in 2024, according to Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest informal employment recorded in Sweden?
- The highest recorded value was 4.2% in 2022.
- What is the lowest informal employment recorded in Sweden?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.6% in 2018.
- How does Sweden rank for informal employment?
- Sweden ranks 35th out of 45 countries with data for 2024.
- Is informal employment rising or falling in Sweden?
- Over the last ten years it is up 15.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sweden data come from?
- The figures come from Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Informal employment (% of total non-agricultural employment). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
This indicator shows the share of workers at working age in informal employment in non-agricultural activities out of total employment in non-agricultural activities, expressed as a percentage. Informal employment comprises workers whose main or secondary jobs are informal. For own-account workers and employers, informality is determined by enterprise characteristics (unincorporated, market-based, and unregistered); for contributing family workers, it is determined by the absence of written contracts and lack of coverage under labor legislation; and for employees, it is determined by whether the employment relationship is not subject to national labor legislation, income taxation, or social protection. The data are based on the statistical standards adopted by the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS).