Having long-term or chronic physical pain can, among other things, have a negative impact on our quality of life and our ability to work or participate in various types of leisure activities.

In the Swedish population, 16 years and older, 63 percent have mild, moderate, or severe pain in their shoulders, neck, arms, hands, legs, feet, back or hip. 31 percent of the population consider themselves to have mild pain, while 24 percent consider the pain to be moderate and 9 percent have severe pain.

It is more common for older than younger people to have physical pain. Among those aged 16–29 years, 49 percent have mild, moderate, or severe pain. In this age group 5 percent have severe pain. Among those aged 80 years and older 75 percent have mild, moderate, or severe pain. In this age group 13 percent have severe pain.

It is a larger percentage of women than men – 70 and 57 percent respectively – who state that they have mild, moderate, or severe physical pain. 10 percent of women and 7 percent of men have severe pain.

It is more common for manual workers than for non-manual workers to have mild, moderate, or severe pain in their shoulders, neck, arms, hands, legs, feet, back or hip. Among women who work in manual occupations, 76 percent have physical pain. That can be compared to women who work in non-manual occupations, among whom 67 percent have physical pain. Among men, 61 percent of those who work in manual occupations and 49 percent of those who work in non-manual occupations have physical pain. It is more than twice as common to have severe physical pain among those who are working in manual occupations than among those who are working in non-manual occupations: 9 and 4 percent respectively.

Read more in the report Health 2022 (pdf)