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Men still earn more than women in Sweden – but the income gap is shrinking

The Local Sweden
The Local Sweden - [email protected]
Men still earn more than women in Sweden – but the income gap is shrinking
Are these office workers perhaps talking about the gender pay gap? Photo: Claudio Bresciani/TT

Men are still earning far more than women in Sweden – but the income gap is slowly shrinking.

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Last year the median earned income for women was 77 percent of men's median income, a slight increase from a 72 percent share in 1999, according to national numbers office Statistics Sweden.

This is because women's incomes have been rising at a faster rate than that of men in the past couple of decades, with women's incomes gaining on men's incomes in 268 out of 290 municipalities.

The towns that have seen the reverse effect are usually places that have either experienced a booming economy in a male-dominated industry, such as northern Swedish mining hubs Kiruna and Gällivare, or places where the overall income level is low which affects women the hardest, such as Stockholm suburbs.

READ ALSO: High earners and men are the winners of Sweden's new budget

On the opposite end of the scale, women's incomes saw the biggest gain on men's incomes in Bjurholm, west of Umeå in northern Sweden, where they increased by 44 percent, compared with 25 percent for men's incomes.

The Statistics Sweden report did not say why Bjurholm saw such an increase, but noted when contacted by The Local that it is Sweden's smallest municipalities, so it is possible it may be more affected by minor changes such as one large company suddenly employing more women than before.

READ ALSO: These graphs show exactly how much men and women earn across Sweden

Women had an annual median income of 251,113 kronor ($25,472) last year, according to preliminary statistics, while men earned 327,875 kronor.

Here's a list of the Swedish municipalities with the largest median value increase in earned income in 2000-2018 (source: Statistics Sweden):

Women

Lomma: 55 percent

Härryda: 53 percent

Tjörn: 53 percent

Ydre: 52 percent

Öckerö: 52 percent

Aneby: 52 percent

Varberg: 52 percent

Hammarö: 51 percent

Lekeberg: 50 percent

Kungsbacka: 50 percent

Men

Solna: 47 percent

Gällivare: 47 percent

Kiruna: 44 percent

Vaxholm: 44 percent

Varberg: 43 percent

Lomma: 42 percent

Lekeberg: 41 percent

Kungsbacka: 41 percent

Krokom: 41 percent

Stenungsund: 40 percent

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