Major differences between Swedish municipalities in trust and security

“Compared with other countries, Sweden is traditionally regarded as a high-trust country. What makes this study interesting is that the picture becomes more nuanced and fragmented if you look at the local community level, not just the country as a whole. The differences at local level are so large that we can hardly talk about Sweden as a single entity any more,” says Lars Trädgårdh, Visiting Professor at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research at Uppsala University, who leads the work on Gemenskapsbarometern.

The survey on which Gemenskapsbarometern is based was conducted by Statistics Sweden and encompasses 50 municipalities. At least 400 people in each municipality have answered the questionnaire, resulting in a unique picture of trust and security at local level.

Gemenskapsbarometern is a continuation of previous studies, but this version includes more residential areas, in Uppsala, Norrköping and Helsingborg, for example. The questionnaire has also been expanded with questions about safety, (in)security, defence willingness and sense of local community.

General trust – in other words, the extent to which respondents trust other people in general – ranges from just under 42 per cent in Ronneby to 77 per cent in Umeå. Several of the municipalities that rank lowest in general trust are places that were formerly dependent on a large industry that has now closed down. These places are characterised by high unemployment and a reduced level of public services and policing.

Gemenskapsbarometern also reveals major differences in perceived security. Residents of Sundbyberg, on the outskirts of Stockholm, are the most worried about criminal gangs, while residents of Sorsele, a sparsely populated rural municipality in the north, are least concerned. In terms of insecurity in evening hours, Helsingborg is worst, while Storuman, adjacent to Sorsele, is the municipality where residents feel most secure being out after dark.

There is a great deal of data to analyse and the report that has now been released is a sub-report focusing on trust and security. More sub-reports on other topics will be published later.

“We hope that the findings will be useful to municipalities in their efforts to improve trust and security. Several municipalities have already contacted us for analyses at urban district level and we look forward to contributing our knowledge and support,” Trädgårdh says.