Relatively equal in the Swedish Parliament
After the 2022 parliamentary elections, the Riksdag consisted of 46 percent women. In the elections to the country's regional councils, 49 percent of the elected representatives were women.
At the municipal level, women have made up approximately 40 percent of elected officials over the past 25 years.
Underrepresented in business
The proportion of women on corporate boards is increasing, but slowly. In 2023, women made up 36 percent of members of private company boards and 10 percent of chairs.
Six million kronor income gap
Men have, on average, just over 20 percent more disposable income than women. Over a lifetime, this corresponds to an income gap of more than six million kronor. Since 2010, the gap has remained relatively unchanged.
Around 26 percent less in retirement
In 2023, women's average pension amounted to SEK 18,600 per month and men's to SEK 24,200, which means that the pension gap corresponded to 26 percent.
Three out of ten professors are women
Women are in the majority in higher education. However, slightly more men than women study in postgraduate programmes. At universities, men dominate in the higher positions. In 2024, only about three out of ten professors were women.
More women exposed to violence in close relationships
In 2022, 13.6 percent of the population aged 16 to 84 reported having been subjected to violence in a close relationship. A higher proportion of women than men reported being subjected to violence (15.2 percent and 11.7 percent, respectively).
Deadly intimate partner violence
Between 2020 and 2024, 59 women were killed by their partners, an average of almost 12 women per year. During the same four-year period, ten men were killed by someone they had a close relationship with.
More leave taken by women
Men take less parental leave than women. Since 2019, men have taken about a third of the days. Men also use temporary parental benefit (VAB) to a lesser extent than women. In 2024, men took 38 percent of the VAB days.
Sources: Gender Equality Authority, Statistics Sweden, Swedish Mediation Institute, Swedish Pensions Authority, Swedish Social Insurance Agency
