The civil society 2022
Deteriorating financial situation for civil society organisations
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2024-10-17 8.00
Operating profit decreased by 16 per cent and profit after financial items by 29 per cent for civil society organisations, which thus showed a historically low surplus in 2022. This is partly due to the fact that, despite a more strained financial situation, the organisations maintained a relatively high level of donations, scholarships and grants.
In 2022, there were a total of 265,185 organisations in the civil society. Non-profit associations were the legal form that accounted for the absolute majority (62 per cent) in the civil society. Most of the organisations (31 per cent) were active in Development and housing. This includes, for example, rental cooperatives, tenant-owner associations and communities.
The financial situation of non-profit organisations deteriorated between 2021 and 2022. Operating expenses increased significantly more than operating income, leading to a decline in operating profit with 16 per cent to SEK 42.5 billion. Financial income decreased, while financial expenses increased significantly. Profit after financial items therefore decreased by 29 per cent to SEK 55 billion. The organisations reported a historically low surplus of only SEK 1.5 billion in 2022. The fact that the surplus was so low was partly due to the fact that the organisations, despite a more strained financial situation, chose to maintain a relatively high level of donations, scholarships, grants and transfers. In 2022, the organisations distributed SEK 52.3 billion in gifts, scholarships and grants, which can be compared to SEK 56.8 billion in 2021.
Non-profit associations and other organisations, in turn, received SEK 41.6 billion in grants and transfers from government agencies in 2022. Compared to 2021, this means a decrease of 18 per cent and compared to 2020 a decrease of 21 per cent. The reason for the reduction is that the support packages introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic were phased out in 2022.
Civil Society Satellite Accounts
| ICNPO | Production | thereof payments from the public sector |
Value added | thereof subsidiaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Culture and recreation | 28 049 | 9 584 | 16 168 | 3 194 |
| Education and research | 18 477 | 18 490 | 13 220 | 2 132 |
| Health | 3 135 | 1 262 | 2 516 | 488 |
| Social services | 15 533 | 7 642 | 11 831 | 1 232 |
| Environment | 1 483 | 222 | 695 | 183 |
| Development and housing | 122 833 | 969 | 62 318 | 6 202 |
| Law, advocacy and politics | 14 120 | 1 981 | 8 795 | 4 788 |
| Philantropic intermediaries and voluntarism promotion |
7 344 | 248 | 3 421 | 1 805 |
| International | 4 963 | 1 616 | 1 764 | 0 |
| Religion | 27 568 | 1 648 | 18 432 | 2 |
| Business and professional associations, unions |
16 816 | 430 | 9 759 | 1 356 |
| Not elsewhere classified | 28 214 | 731 | 15 264 | 12 767 |
| Total | 288 534 | 44 823 | 164 183 | 34 149 |
Source: National accounts and The Civil Society
The satellite accounts of civil society showed that production in 2022 amounted to SEK 289 billion and value added to SEK 164 billion. Civil society's share of the total economy decreased slightly, to 2.6 per cent in value of production and to 3.2 per cent in value added.
The activity that contributed most to both production and value added was Development and housing. This activity accounted for 43 per cent of production and 38 per cent of value added. Religion accounted for 10 per cent of production and 11 per cent of value added. Education and research received the largest share (41 per cent) of payments from the public sector. In total, civil society received SEK 44.8 billion in payments from the public sector in 2022.
Regional statistics
For the first time, regional statistics on civil society are presented. The metropolitan counties dominated in terms of numbers; Stockholm County had approximately 58,700 organisations, Västra Götaland had 40,800 and Skåne County had 31,100 civil society organisations in 2022. The lowest number of organisations was found in Gotland with just under 2,500 and in Blekinge with just over 3,800 organisations. In terms of the number of organisations per 1000 inhabitants in the different counties, Jämtland County was at the top with 49 organizations, followed by Gotland with 40 and Dalarna County with 35 organizations per 1000 inhabitants.
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.
Operating profit is income from normal operations (e.g. membership fees, sales, gifts and contributions) minus business expenses (e.g. raw materials, merchandise and external costs), personnel costs and depreciation.
Profit after financial items is operating profit plus financial income (e.g. interest, dividends) minus financial expenses (e.g. interest expenses).
Surplus/deficit is profit after financial items minus appropriations, taxes, gifts made, scholarships, grants and transfers.
Satellite accounts are used for describing and analysing the economy for a specific purpose. They are not intended to provide an overview of the national economy, but to target what is relevant for the specific purpose, in this case the civil society. Satellite accounts can be used to display details that are not visible in the main aggregated 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.
[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).
Statistical Database
Additional information is provided in the databases accessible through The Civil Society (scb.se)
Publication
A more detailed report of this survey is published in the publication: The civil society 2022 (pdf, in Swedish)
Next publishing will be
The next statistical news in the series will be published in October 2025.
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.