Of these, 17,500 are assessed to be active gang members and 50,000 are considered to have connections to gang members.
This compares to the 14,000 and 48,000 respectively in the previous report from February 2024.
The situation shows that the situation remains very serious.
We can conclude that the crime that threatens society cannot simply be eliminated by prosecution, says National Police Chief Petra Lundh.
At the bottom
Regarding the 17,500 who are considered to be active in criminal gangs, the police also believe that the figure is on the low side, since the criteria for being classified as an active gang criminal are considered narrow. It must involve serious crime, it must have been committed together with others, it must have been ongoing for some time and it must be current.
Nor are many of the children who have recently taken on the task of committing serious violent crimes for gangs included.
However, Lundh states that there are no indications that the gang environment has grown from 2024 to 2025. The fact that the figures are higher in today's report is due to the police changing their measurement method. Now only data in the police's intelligence databases is used, which makes the method more accurate.
The 50,000 who are assessed to have connections to gang criminals must either have connections to at least two active gang criminals or have been co-suspects in crimes.
"It is not about people who only have another kind of connection, such as a family member, partner or similar," the police write in the report.
A failure?
Petra Lundh states that gang crime cannot be eliminated without other social actors doing more to stop the influx of children and young people.
She wishes that social services, like the police, could also advance their positions more than they have done so far.
According to her, it is about exchanging more information with the police and taking care of children at risk at an earlier stage than today.
Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) does not see the new figures as a failure for the government.
This is about getting as precise an understanding as possible about this problem, and that situational picture did not exist when we entered the Government Offices, he says.
The Social Democrats' legal policy spokesperson Teresa Carvalho states that the number of people in gang environments is at "sky-high levels" and that "a completely new approach is needed."
"Today we saw a Minister of Justice who has failed," she comments.
Total in Sweden: Approximately 17,500
Stockholm: Approximately 3,850 (22 percent)
South: 3,325 (19 percent)
West: 2,975 (17 percent)
East: 1,400 (8 percent)
Middle: 1,400 (8 percent)
Bergslagen: 1,050 (6 percent)
North: 1,050 (6 percent)
Lacking population registration: 2,275 (13 percent)
Source: Police
Footnote: Figures are approximate.
Number of active gang criminals: 17,500
Number with links to gang criminals: 50,000
Average age of active gang criminals: 28 years, five percent are under 18 years
Swedish citizenship: 81 percent
Dual citizenship: 8 percent
Foreign citizenship: 11 percent
Gender: 94 percent of active gang criminals are men
Source: Situation of active gang criminals in Sweden 2025
