With new funding from the Swedish Research Council (VR), the national research infrastructure SwedPop will further develop and expand its databases of historical Swedish population data. The initiative will enable the digitisation of large new datasets and the implementation of AI-based methods, strengthening SwedPop’s role as a key resource for population research.
SwedPop’s application comprised just over SEK 44 million, distributed across six national nodes for the period 2027–2030.
SwedPop as a National Research Infrastructure
SwedPop is a national research infrastructure that provides access to historical Swedish population data for research. From 2027 onwards, SwedPop will include the parish record databases held by the Demographic Database, the Scanian Economic-Demographic Database (SEDD), the Gothenburg Population Panel (GOPP), ATLASS – Automated Transcription and Linkage of Archival School Data from Sweden, SweCens, Rotemannen, Sveriges Dödbok, and Emiweb.
Together, these databases contain longitudinal and interconnected information on the Swedish population spanning nearly three centuries. They represent diverse socio-economic contexts, including both urban and rural environments. The data encompass a wide range of demographic and socio-economic variables, enabling research into numerous contemporary questions of high societal relevance.
All data in SwedPop are harmonised using a common coding scheme and database structure, and are made openly available via swedpop.se, where researchers can compile customised datasets by selecting variables of interest and download the data for analysis.
New Developments within the Infrastructure
With the new funding from the Swedish Research Council, the infrastructure will undergo further development with the ambition of achieving national coverage. During the period 2027–2030, AI-based methods will be implemented to create a national research register of the Swedish population covering approximately 1895–1968. This register will include information on, among other things, birth, schooling, marriage, and causes of death.