Foreign ownership and expatriate Swedes’ ownership of holiday homes in Sweden 2020

Norwegian ownership of Swedish holiday homes tops the list

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2021-03-25 9.30

In 2020, 37 979 holiday homes had foreign owners, which is a marginal increase compared with 2019. Norwegians accounted for the largest share (33 percent) of foreign ownership, followed by Germans and Danes at 27 percent each.

Foreign owners mostly from Norway, Germany and Denmark

Foreign owners come primarily from Norway (12 585 holiday homes), Germany (10 279) and Denmark (10 215). The fourth leading ownership country is the Netherlands, at 1 333 holiday homes.

Large differences among counties

There are large regional differences in foreign ownership of holiday homes in relation to the total stock of holiday homes. The percentage of foreign ownership is by far the greatest in Kronoberg County at 38 percent and in Värmland at 24 percent. In Stockholm, Uppsala, Södermanland, Gotland and Västmanland counties, foreign ownership accounts for less than 1 percent of the stock.

The largest numbers of foreign-owned holiday homes are located in Västra Götaland (7 830), Värmland (6 480), Kronoberg (4 558) and Skåne (3 443) counties.

Number of holiday homes owned by natural persons in 2020 and of which the foreign owners by country

County	Total number of holiday homes owned by natural persons	Of which those with owners from							Percentage of foreign owned holiday homes
		Denmark	Norway	Germany	Netherlands	Other countries	Unknown country	Total
Stockholm	72 808	14	15	64	9	115	13	230	0.3
Uppsala	18 062	1	5	9	4	26	6	51	0.3
Södermanland	20 237	4	4	50	4	34	14	110	0.5
Östergötland	23 004	71	8	218	31	50	18	396	1.7
Jönköping	13 671	889	11	783	68	89	26	1 866	13.6
Kronoberg	11 898	2 967	14	1 316	86	118	57	4 558	38.3
Kalmar	31 729	553	39	2 019	125	147	83	2 966	9.3
Gotland	12 296	0	13	39	3	23	5	83	0.7
Blekinge	13 330	904	13	464	22	64	24	1 491	11.2
Skåne	44 533	2 460	90	590	35	201	67	3 443	7.7
Halland	25 035	1 139	36	460	17	64	24	1 740	7.0
Västra Götaland	77 603	522	5 158	1 554	127	327	142	7 830	10.1
Värmland	27 235	407	3 986	1 235	505	215	132	6 480	23.8
Örebro	14 837	39	21	233	48	46	20	407	2.7
Västmanland	9 673	1	5	10	3	17	5	41	0.4
Dalarna	44 927	132	372	356	87	142	24	1 113	2.5
Gävleborg	27 673	10	22	125	25	88	25	295	1.1
Västernorrland	25 125	12	51	193	36	140	37	469	1.9
Jämtland	31 740	42	1 461	230	57	124	34	1 948	6.1
Västerbotten	32 762	38	791	205	24	261	41	1 360	4.2
Norrbotten	29 486	10	470	126	17	437	42	1 102	3.7
Total	607 664	10 215	12 585	10 279	1 333	2 728	839	37 979	6.3

Further information on foreign ownership and presentation at municipal level can be provided on order.

Expatriate Swedes’ ownership of holiday homes

In total, 13 469 holiday homes in Sweden are owned by Swedes living abroad. Swedes living in Norway own the largest number of holiday homes in Sweden (2 946). This is followed by Swedish owners living in Germany (1 642), the United Kingdom (1 227), Switzerland (1 096), the United States (1 057) and Denmark (1 011).

The largest increase compared with 2019 is among Swedes living in the United States and Norway, at 133 and 113 holiday homes respectively.

It is most common for Swedes living abroad to own holiday homes in Västra Götaland County (2 599), Skåne County (1 996) and Stockholm County (1 652).

Number of holiday homes owned by natural persons in 2020 and of which expatriate Swedes by country

County	Total number of holiday homes owned by natural persons	Of which those with Swedish owners living in								Percentage of holiday homes owned by expatriate Swedes
		Norway	Switzerland	United Kingdom	Germany	USA	Denmark	Other countries	Total
Stockholm	72 808	82	189	206	161	202	35	777	1 652	2.3
Uppsala	18 062	12	15	21	14	36	8	115	221	1.2
Södermanland	20 237	17	23	47	62	39	6	144	338	1.7
Östergötland	23 004	49	42	33	51	27	15	160	377	1.6
Jönköping	13 671	18	24	19	65	18	54	91	289	2.1
Kronoberg	11 898	18	12	20	71	11	141	55	328	2.8
Kalmar	31 729	57	58	40	132	51	63	199	600	1.9
Gotland	12 296	29	17	21	25	21	5	96	214	1.7
Blekinge	13 330	31	31	23	57	25	77	88	332	2.5
Skåne	44 533	140	232	252	287	144	315	626	1 996	4.5
Halland	25 035	80	67	49	93	60	79	208	636	2.5
Västra Götaland	77 603	1 041	181	208	252	155	76	686	2 599	3.3
Värmland	27 235	624	38	35	79	35	41	157	1 009	3.7
Örebro	14 837	37	12	23	40	17	9	82	220	1.5
Västmanland	9 673	18	10	19	14	10	3	82	156	1.6
Dalarna	44 927	178	56	71	59	61	26	199	650	1.4
Gävleborg	27 673	63	25	43	40	34	9	132	346	1.3
Västernorrland	25 125	54	17	32	43	32	11	141	330	1.3
Jämtland	31 740	185	22	27	23	34	16	128	435	1.4
Västerbotten	32 762	119	18	21	38	26	14	122	358	1.1
Norrbotten	29 486	94	7	17	36	19	8	202	383	1.3
Total	607 664	2 946	1 096	1 227	1 642	1 057	1 011	4 490	13 469	2.2

Further information on foreign ownership and presentation at municipal level can be provided on order.

Definitions and explanations

This item of statistical news defines holiday home as an assessment unit or taxation unit with no registered population and is assessed as building for agriculture, residential value less than SEK 50 000 (type code 113), building for agriculture, built (type code 120), one- or two-dwelling building, built (type code 220), one- or two-dwelling building, houses on leasehold (type code 225) and one- or two-dwelling building, building value less than SEK 50 000 (type code 213).

New as from the 2019 publication on holiday homes

A new type code has been added – the building for agriculture, residential value less than SEK 50 000 (type code 113).

All assessment units, one- or two-dwelling building, houses on leasehold (type code 225) are now considered a holiday home.

For agricultural units there is a further requirement that the agriculture is not active. As of 2019, only those units with agricultural-related business codes are counted as active agriculture, which means that fewer agricultural units are excluded.

The changes that have been made result in just over 24 000 more holiday homes in 2019 compared with the previously used method.

Statistics Sweden will publish new time series according to the new definition later this year when comparisons can be made for longer time periods.

Foreign ownership means that the owner responsible for his or her tax return has neither a Swedish postal address nor a Swedish personal identity number. The country reported in these statistics is the country where the owner has their postal address, and only natural persons are included in the survey.

Expatriate Swedes’ ownership means that the owner responsible for his/her tax return does not have a Swedish postal address, but has a Swedish personal identity number. The country reported in these statistics is the country where the owner has their postal address, and only natural persons are included in the survey.

This information was retrieved from the 2020 Real Estate Tax Assessment Register (FTR) and refers to the situation on 1 January 2020. Statistics Sweden receives the Real Estate Tax Assessment Register from the Swedish Tax Agency.

The objects reported are assessment units or taxation units. Assessment units and taxation units are defined in the FTR as that which is assessed or taxed independently and generally consists of property with a building and a lot.

Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.