The number of people aged 18-34 living with their parents had been on a downward curve since 2019, but between 2022 and 2023 it increased from 12.5 to 21.9 percent – more than Sweden’s neighbours Finland (16.3 percent – the lowest in the EU) and Denmark (16.9 percent) – according to new statistics by European number-crunching agency Eurostat.

The proportion of young people living with their parents is still lower in Sweden than the rest of the EU, where the average is 49.6 percent.

Croatia is top of the table, with 76.9 percent of its 18-34-year-old population living with their parents.

Some of the reasons behind the Swedish increase are believed to be high inflation and interest rates putting a damper on the housing market and making it more expensive for people to buy their first home, as well as a dysfunctional rental market where young people in major cities have essentially two choices: queue for years to get their hands on a first-hand lease, or pay for an overpriced sublet.

Robert Boije, chief economist for state-owned mortgage bank SBAB, nevertheless said he was surprised that the proportion of young people living with their parents had doubled.

“That said, there’s been quite a lot happening on the housing market. In 2021, ground was broken on 70,000 apartments for renters and owners. A huge number of rental apartments were built with investment aid which was later pulled. That could be a factor,” he said.

The investment aid was not only an incentive for building new homes, but it also imposed a cap on how high rents were allowed to be.

“If young people are to be able to move out, we need those kinds of homes,” said Marie Linder, chairperson of the Swedish Tenants’ Association. 

She and Boije also pointed at a few key differences between Sweden and Finland and Denmark, including a split housing market that includes apartments similar to the Swedish public housing queues, but also a free market where young people don’t have to queue.

“Finland and Denmark give state support to the construction of homes. I think this shows that some kind of state housing support is needed. If you look at property construction in general, you can see that the building rate goes up when the state steps in,” said Linder.