8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Europe / Northern Europe

Born in Sweden

About 1 in 1,349 people born in 2023 started life in Sweden. A boy can expect to live 81 years and a girl 85, up from 70 and 72 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 1,349
odds of being born here
97,900 births · Ranked 107th of 230
81 / 85
years of life, boys / girls
Was 70 / 72 in 1950
$22,934
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 47th of 203 · extrapolated
89%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 12 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 26 in every 1,000 births to 2.4.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0102030195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth81.4 years for boys, 85.1 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 52.4 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year94,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people4.4World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles93%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.1%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year4 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 2.3 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.4, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
0123195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.43UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth31.6 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 37 and the poorest fifth 8.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2023
8%Poorest fifth
14%Second
18%Middle
23%Fourth
37%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $22,934 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth37% / 8% (2023)World Bank PIP
Unemployment7.6% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises8.5% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-0.7% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming2% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed10% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment134% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Stockholm, with 1.5 million people.

89%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Stockholm1.5 million
Gothenburg608,462
Malmö362,133
Uppsala177,074
Linköping166,673
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Swedish95%
English86%
Finnish2%
Swedish, Finnish is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Stockholm2.4 million
Västra Götaland1.1 million
Skåne770,254
Östergötland291,382
Örebro200,142
Uppsala199,627
Jönköping171,046
Västerbotten165,740
Halland147,525
Västmanland146,154

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 21 regions
  • Stockholm2.4 million
  • Västra Götaland1.1 million
  • Skåne770,254
  • Östergötland291,382
  • Örebro200,142
  • Uppsala199,627
  • Jönköping171,046
  • Västerbotten165,740
  • Halland147,525
  • Västmanland146,154
  • Norrbotten134,766
  • Södermanland129,422
  • Gävleborg115,689
  • Västernorrland115,111
  • Dalarna94,491
  • Kronoberg87,067
  • Blekinge86,787
  • Värmland80,049
  • Kalmar77,873
  • Jämtland49,806
  • Gotland23,402

People on the move

About 2.1% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Norway, Finland, Denmark.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Norway53,689
Finland39,331
Denmark26,460
Residents born abroad21.4% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 2.1% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostNorway (53,689), Finland (39,331), Denmark (26,460)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $5.4 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 60%.

100%
of older people receive a pension (2020)
60%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 202427,399Our World in Data, from WHO

Now live it.

Born in Sweden, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Sweden

Elsewhere in Europe

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences