The City Mission has mapped material and social poverty and over-indebtedness in the 2026 Poverty Report. According to the investigation, the percentage of people living in material and social poverty has gone from 3 to 7 percent during the period 2021–2025. That's around 730,000 people, according to Statistics Sweden.
The number of people with debt problems is also increasing. About 500,000 people, equivalent to 5 percent of the population, were over-indebted in 2025. That's the highest number in over 20 years and an increase of 13 percent since 2019. Of those, about 50,000 people have debt relief, according to the report.
Karin Mejri, 47 years old, had not had any problems with her finances until 2023. Then she got covid and her path into debt problems began. She got post-covid and was forced to quit her job at a preschool.
- My health has not been what it should be. It has led me to this situation, she tells DN.
She started studying but suffered from exhaustion. She looked for a job but couldn't take it and was on sick leave, but because she had no income, she didn't get sick pay.
She was forced to apply for support but it took some time before she received it.
- I had to live on saved money, housing allowance and child allowance. There were bills I couldn't pay, she continues.
In the end, there was the risk that she would be evicted.
- When it dawned on me that I could be a 47-year-old mother of three and homeless, I felt extreme anxiety, she says.
Karin Mejri has chosen to tell about her experiences in the report.
- When this happened to me, I would have liked a person who had gone through the same thing and who could tell me about it. But because there wasn't, I feel it's important that I can be that person for others, she says.
Today, she still has debts of SEK 100,000 but has received help from the City Mission and a housing company that has preventive work against evictions. She has started studying and must pay back her debts.
- When I have a fixed income, the goal is absolutely to be able to pay back and get the finances in order, she says.
The city mission's report lists several explanations for the increase in the proportion of poor and over-indebted people. Life events such as unemployment and illness are a cause. Debts after government recoveries are another. It may be about incorrect payments for various grants.
To that can be added insufficient social insurance and a credit market that also caters to people with low repayment capacity.
- What surprised us is that we see a long-term hollowing out of the social insurance systems, at the same time as the credit market has been deregulated, says Jonas Rydberg, Secretary General, Sweden's City Missions.
The city mission lists a number of measures to counter the problems of poverty and over-indebtedness.
- One of our suggestions is that if you haven't done a proper credit check, that is, checked so that the person who takes the loan also actually has a reasonable opportunity to pay it back, then of course the loan should be declared invalid, says Jonas Rydberg.
Another measure is to make it easier for people who are over-indebted to get debt relief. A third is to ensure that authorities' efforts are coordinated so that help arrives on time.
For example, it could be that the Social Insurance Agency, the Employment Service and the municipalities' social services need to coordinate their efforts, according to the City Mission.
- The municipalities themselves can see their own statistics where there is a lot of over-indebtedness. Debt and budget counseling needs to be strengthened there, says Jonas Rydberg.
