Rural population in Sweden
Sweden: Rural population was 1.16 million in 2025. ▼ Falling
Rural population in Sweden, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
The most recent figure for rural population in Sweden is 1.16 million, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 66 years on record.
The figure is down 1.7% on the previous year and down 11.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Sweden peaked at 2.06 million in 1960 and was at its lowest, 1.16 million, in 2025.
Sweden ranks 122nd of 215 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.80 million | 1.54 million | 2.06 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 1.44 million | 1.41 million | 1.51 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.41 million | 1.41 million | 1.42 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.42 million | 1.42 million | 1.42 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.41 million | 1.40 million | 1.42 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.33 million | 1.26 million | 1.39 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.20 million | 1.16 million | 1.25 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sweden
More agriculture & rural data for Sweden
- Agricultural raw materials exports 3.6% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.3% (2024)
- Rural population 10.9% (2025)
- Rural population growth -1.8% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.5% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 10.06 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 971,160 hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 4,456 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 4.33 million metric tons (2023)
- Fertilizer consumption 93.52 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Sweden?
- Rural population in Sweden was 1.16 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Sweden?
- The highest recorded value was 2.06 million in 1960.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Sweden?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.16 million in 2025.
- How does Sweden rank for rural population?
- Sweden ranks 122nd out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Sweden?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sweden data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.