Share of population living in urban areas in Sweden
Sweden: Share of population living in urban areas was 68.8% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of population living in urban areas in Sweden, 1950–2020
Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Sweden recorded 68.8% for share of population living in urban areas in 2020. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.
The figure is up 3.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living in urban areas in Sweden peaked at 68.8% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 60.0%, in 1950.
That places Sweden 148th out of 236 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 60.3% | 60.0% | 60.7% | 2 |
| 1960s | 61.5% | 61.3% | 61.8% | 2 |
| 1970s | 62.6% | 62.5% | 62.8% | 2 |
| 1980s | 62.4% | 62.4% | 62.5% | 2 |
| 1990s | 63.4% | 62.8% | 64.0% | 2 |
| 2000s | 65.2% | 64.9% | 65.5% | 2 |
| 2010s | 67.2% | 66.7% | 67.7% | 2 |
| 2020s | 68.8% | 68.8% | 68.8% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Sweden
More reference data data for Sweden
- Spring temperature anomalies 4.22 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 1.58 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month -3.74 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 2.27 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 3.13 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 138.19 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population living in urban areas in Sweden?
- Share of population living in urban areas in Sweden was 68.8% in 2020, according to European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of population living in urban areas recorded in Sweden?
- The highest recorded value was 68.8% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of population living in urban areas recorded in Sweden?
- The lowest recorded value was 60.0% in 1950.
- How does Sweden rank for share of population living in urban areas?
- Sweden ranks 148th out of 236 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of population living in urban areas rising or falling in Sweden?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sweden data come from?
- The figures come from European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population living in urban areas. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Estimated share of the population living in urban areas (the sum of cities and towns and suburbs). Urban areas are identified using satellite imagery and population data, applying the same definitions across countries.