Sweden has a very high homicide rate compared to other European countries. In 2021, 41 men aged 15–29 were killed, equating to 42 men per million inhabitants in the corresponding age group. According to the Global Study on Homicide, the number of victims of fatal violence across Europe during the same year was 28 (Brå 2024). There is no clear reason why homicides have increased more in Sweden than in other countries, other than that organized crime is on the rise.
Recruitment of young people
Studies show that a large percentage of local criminal networks actively recruit young people under the age of 18 to their cause. It has become more common for established criminal actors to exploit children and adolescents not only for drug-related crime but also for carrying out violent and risky crimes such as shootings, explosions or assassinations. This is clearly borne out by the statistics on shootings leading to injury or death, where the share of suspects under the age of 18 has rapidly grown over the last five years. In 2019, the number of under-18s suspected of an involvement in a shooting leading to injury or deaths was nine; by mid 2024, this had risen to 29 (Figure 2).
Serious crime among children and adolescents
Both suspects and victims of homicide by firearm are becoming younger as more and more children and adolescents become involved in criminal networks in Sweden. In the 15-20 age group, the number of suspects involving murder, manslaughter and assault with a fatal outcome in 2014 was 34. By 2023, that number had increased four-fold to 167 – a 391% increase over 2014. For the over-21 age group, the increase was significantly lower at 37% (table 1).
The vast majority of suspects are boys and young men, although the share of girls and young women seems to be rising. In 2023, 21 of the 167 murder suspects under the age of 20 were girls, rising from three in 2022 and eight in 2021 (Brå, Crime statistics).
In general, criminal activity increases during adolescence, peaks in early adulthood, and declines after that. The same pattern is also evident among members of criminal networks. According to the Swedish Police Authority, the number of individuals deemed active in criminal networks is 14,000. Around 1,700 children and adolescents under 18 are considered active members of a criminal network, accounting for 13% in total (Swedish Police Authority 2024).
Government strategy against organised crime
Crime prevention is one of the government’s current priorities. Sweden’s first comprehensive national strategy against organised crime was adopted in 2024 (Ministry of Justice 2024a). It aims to bring together a broad range of actors, including the private sector and civil society, to combat crime at national, regional and local levels. This includes a review of the criminal code, especially those provisions relating to weapons offenses. The police's powers to stop and search individuals on the street and to conduct house searches are to be strengthened.
Institutional forms of care for those under the age of 18 who have been directed to enter into care are being reviewed, too. In Sweden, children under the age of 14 are legal minors and thus cannot be convicted of a crime. Young people aged 15 to 17 can exceptionally be given a custodial sentence for serious crimes. Adults aged over 18 can be sentenced according to standard sentencing regulations, although special juvenile sanctions may be handed down to those under 21.
Overall, the government’s strategy against organized crime mainly centres on repressive policies, for which there is considerable public support.
Government strategy on social crime prevention
Countering and fighting crime is an important task, and early interventions to prevent crime are central. Besides its strategy against organized crime, the government is also focusing on social crime prevention. Here the focus is on preventing children and young people from becoming involved in criminal networks and other crimes in the first place, as well as ensuring that those who do commit crimes leave that world behind. The social crime prevention strategy includes both broad and early measures, including crime prevention efforts in schools, strengthening parental responsibility, giving social services better pathways to support children and young people, and preventing recidivism (Ministry of Justice 2024b).
Most actions – both repressive and preventive efforts – focus on boys and young men from socially disadvantaged areas, many of whom are from the immigrant community.
New government programme for leisure cards in 2025
In addition to the social crime prevention strategy, in early 2025 the government will launch a broad-based scheme for leisure cards for children and adolescents, centring especially on those who do not, or only rarely, participate in organized leisure activities. The aim is to give young people aged 8 to 16 increased access to sports, cultural, outdoor and other social activities. The card will be pre-loaded with an amount to be used as payment for these activities. The amount will vary, designed to encourage children and adolescents especially from socio-economically vulnerable households to take part in such activities.
The role of youth work
While the strategy recognises the importance of meaningful free time for children and adolescents and the safe presence of adults in environments frequented by this target group, it does not foresee concrete youth work actions aside from the aforementioned leisure card scheme. This may be because in Sweden, youth work is seen as part of youth policy, responsibility for which lies at the local level. In other words, youth work is a municipal responsibility that is managed and financed locally when it comes to outreach, youth centres and youth clubs. What is more, the concept of “youth work” is seldom invoked; instead, government policy documents centre around the concept of meaningful leisure activities. These can take the shape of mainly membership-based activities in youth organisations and to open meeting places for young people, such as youth centres.
Since the 1990s, many municipalities, above all in the cities, have only maintained recreational facilities in residential areas characterized by socio-economic problems. The last few years, problems have arisen as a consequence of increasing gang crime in these areas. Some users of the facilities are members of criminal youth groups who cause trouble every now and then. However, there have also been cases where centre employees have been found to be involved in organized crime.
This points to the key importance of ensuring the right skills and qualifications among youth workers. In Sweden, there are no specific standards or minimum qualifications for staff in this field. Training for youth workers is mainly provided by Swedish folkhögskolor, or folk high schools. They run two-year study programmes, leading upon completion to a diploma in youth work. In 2019, the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society (MUCF) conducted a survey on youth work, focusing specifically on the professional qualifications of youth workers. The survey found that over 60 % of the staff working in open leisure centres lacked formal training. There is an ongoing discussion on how to improve the qualifications of youth workers, but no concrete proposals have been presented so far.
The role of the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society (MUCF)
As a small-scale action to tackle this problem, MUCF has been tasked with creating a support scheme for those responsible for open leisure activities. The aim is to strengthen youth workers’ skills when it comes to preventing violence and creating safe environments for all visitors. Among the guidance provided by MUCF are strategies for the early identification of children and young people at risk and collaboration options to prevent further adverse developments, alongside a debate on problematic masculinity norms. This is a special brief given to MUCF against the backdrop of broader governmental efforts to ensure young people have access to meaningful leisure activities that benefit their development.
