The law, which made it easier to change legal gender without requiring, for example, a medical diagnosis, came into effect on July 1 last year.
Since then and up to and including May 31, 2026, the National Board of Health and Welfare has received 1,979 applications. The new law includes the possibility of changing legal gender from the age of 16, and 271 of the applications come from people under the age of 18.
Of the total number of applications, around 89 percent have been approved and 3 percent have been rejected.
Before the law came into force, the National Board of Health and Welfare used to receive around 300-600 applications for changing legal gender. The old legislation also included permits for surgical procedures.
