During the first quarter of 2026, the market value of insurance and occupational pension companies' investment assets decreased marginally to SEK 8,253 billion. The shares holdings lost in value while holdings in bonds increased.
The number of ongoing employments increased by 0.6 percent compared to March the previous year. During the same period, hours worked increased by 2.7 percent, amounting to 680 million hours. The proportion of sickness absence was 2.1 percent. The total gross pay was 205 000 million SEK.
At the end of 2025, 15.7 per cent of Sweden’s total area was formally protected. The total increase during the year amounted to 232,600 hectares and mainly comprised marine areas in the Baltic Sea, in the form of new or expanded Natura 2000 sites. A new marine national park was also established, Nämdöskärgården National Park in Stockholm County.
The volume of retail trade remained unchanged (0.0 percent) in April 2026 compared with March 2026. Retail sales in durables decreased by 2.1 percent while retail sales in consumables (excluding Systembolaget, the state-owned chain of liquor stores) increased by 2.2 percent. These figures are calendar and seasonally adjusted and calculated in constant prices.
GDP decreased by 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2026, seasonally adjusted and compared with the previous quarter. Inventories and household consumption contributed positively while gross fixed capital formation and central government final consumption counteracted growth. Calendar adjusted and compared with the first quarter of 2025, GDP increased by 2.0 percent.