The civil society 2021
SEK 57 billion donated by non-profit organisations in 2021
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2023-10-13 8.00
The contribution of the civil society to GDP amounted to SEK 161 billion or 3.3 percent of Sweden´s total economy in 2021. Development and housing contributed the most. Number of employees in the civil society increased with 2 per cent to nearly 192 000 persons, where 61 percent were women. The government issued a total of SEK 3.2 billion in corona-related contributions.
The number of organisations in the civil society 2021 amounted to 263 498 which is an increase of 1.1 percent compared to 2020. Most of the organizations (62 percent) were non-profit associations. 31 percent of the organizations operated in development and housing (Here are housing cooperatives and homeowner association included) and 25 percent in culture and recreation.
In Sweden 5.1 million (Source: Labour statistics based on administrative sources) people worked in 2021 of which 191 827 worked in the civil society. This means an increase of two percent compared to 2020. Of the total number of employees, 116 516 were women.
The Corona pandemic led to a decrease in sales of goods and services
The total operating income in non-profit institutions amounted to SEK 147.4 billion in 2021. Membership fees contributed with 20.2 percent and income from sales of goods and services with 22.5 percent to total operating income. The share of membership fees has increased from 18 percent and the share of sales of goods and services has decreased from 28 percent compared to 2019. The drop in sales most likely depends on the Corona pandemic. The result after financial items increased by 7.4 percent to SEK 77.2 billion in 2021. A large amount of the result was spent on distributing gifts, scholarships, and grants. In 2021 a total of SEK 56.8 billion was distributed from the non-profit institutions.
The government issued a total of SEK 3.2 billion in corona-related contributions to the civil society, an increase by SEK 1.1 billion compared with 2020. A total of SEK 2.1 billion or two-thirds of the contributions in 2021 consisted of support for sports federations and direct support to sport associations. These, together with other organisations in recreation and culture, received the largest share of the corona-related contributions.
The civil society´s share of the Swedish economy is shrinking
According to the satellite accounts for the civil society, the total production in 2021 remained at the same level as the previous year, amounting to SEK 272 billion. Since the production in the overall economy increased compared to 2020, this meant that the share of civil society in Sweden's production decreased by 0.3 percentages to 2.7 percent.
The value added within the civil society can be described as the voluntary sector's contribution to Sweden's GDP (Gross Domestic Product). The value added in the civil society amounted to SEK 161 billion or 3.3 percent of the total economy in 2021. This represented a decrease of 0.2 percentages compared to the previous year.
Development and housing accounted for the largest share of the value added with SEK 64 billion. The second-largest contribution to GDP was from Religious activities, which accounted for SEK 18.7 billion.
| 2020 | 2021 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sweden in total | -thereof civil society | Share | Sweden in total | -thereof civil society | Share | ||
| Production | 9 134 | 271 | 3.0% | 9 980 | 272 | 2.7% | |
| GDP / Value added at base price | 4 472 | 157 | 3.5% | 4 873 | 161 | 3.3% | |
| Compensation to employees | 2 420 | 77 | 3.2% | 2 571 | 78 | 3.0% | |
| Operating surplus and mixed income, gross | 1 681 | 66 | 3.9% | 1 861 | 67 | 3.6% | |
| Capital income, net | 160 | 9 | 206 | 11 | 5.4% | ||
| Current transfers, net | ‑106 | ‑1 | ‑103 | 0 | |||
| Disposable income, net | 4 222 | 40 | 0.9% | 4 655 | 39 | 0.8% | |
| Final consumption expenditure | 3 548 | 62 | 1.7% | 3 807 | 64 | 1.7% | |
| Gross fixed capital formation | 1 265 | 78 | 6.1% | 1 404 | 69 | 4.9% | |
| Net lending (+)/net borrowing (-) | 298 | ‑91 | 375 | ‑81 | |||
Source: National accounts and civil society
Definitions and explanations
The civil society is an arena, distinct from the state, the market, and the individual household, where people organise and act collectively in shared interests. This domain encompasses everything from networks and voluntary associations to registered religious communities, and more.
Satellite accounts are focused on describing and analysing the economy for a specific purpose. They are not intended to provide an overview of the national economy, but rather focus on what is relevant for that specific purpose. Therefore, satellite accounts can be used to show details that are not visible in the aggregated main system of national accounts.
Production can be simplified as the revenues of organisations and may consist of membership fees and contributions, for example. A more formal definition is: 'An activity performed under the control and responsibility of an institutional unit. The unit uses inputs of labour, capital, as well as goods and services' (ENS, § 3.07[1]).
The value added can be simplified as income minus expenses or the surplus generated in the operation during a year. A sector's value added is the sector's production minus the sector's consumption. The sum of all sectors' value added constitutes Sweden's GDP at basic prices.
Statistical Database
Additional information is provided in the databases accessible through The Civil Society (scb.se).
[1] ENS refers to a manual used by the National Accounts. For more information, see: ESA 2010 – the Swedish national accounts adapt to the new EU regulations (scb.se).
Publication
A more detailed report of this survey is published in the publication: The civil society 2021 (pdf, in Swedish)
Next publishing will be
The next statistical news in the series will be publisched in June 2024.
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.