The number of Swedes aged 67 who are not claiming a pension has tripled since 2019, as job seeker numbers continue to rise, according to pension provider Alecta.

Alecta’s income data from 2023 showed that in 2023, 446,000 Swedes aged 66 or older had some form of earned income and of these, 432,000 Swedes combined drawing a pension with earned income.

There was also a notable gender difference in job seekers, as among Swedes aged 66 and over, 26 per cent of men are engaged in work to some extent compared to 18 per cent of women.

The increase in jobseekers was also the case among older income earners, with one in eight 80-year-olds and 7 per cent of 85-year-olds having some degree of earned income.

Meanwhile, three in 10 70-year-olds and two in 10 75-year-olds have self-employed pension (YEL) income.

Alecta pension economist, Staffan Ström, said that fewer people are taking out a pension before their 65th birthday, which is largely due to the new age rules for withdrawals.

"What we are seeing is a general postponement of the entire de-escalation process of working life," Ström said.

He noted that the rise in the number of jobseekers is part of a broader trend, with individuals working later into their lives largely due to improved health and fitness.

However, Ström acknowledged that there are older people who have both poor health and are struggling financially, but said the company's studies show that older people's incomes over time have clearly become much higher.

“The average Swede's total income after tax at the age of 67 is 87 per cent of the income he or she had at 60, and today's 67-year-olds have SEK 70,000 more per year to move around with compared to 67-year-olds 12 years ago,” Ström said.

“There is a large spread between individuals and income levels, but we see a clear positive trend.”

As part of Alecta's annual larger study of older people's finances, the pension company examined the proportion of total income derived from work for individuals at age 60.

This showed a positive trend, where the share of income that comes from work increases for each age group.

“For all Swedes with average income born in 1945, 67 per cent of the cohort's total income came from work. For the 1963 cohort, it was 90 per cent. What we see is that more and more people are working in the years before retirement," Ström explained.

Alecta’s previous figures on the number of job seekers were released in 2023, with data from the 2020 income year. During that period, there were 416,000 job seekers in Sweden, a decrease from previous years, which the company said was likely due to the pandemic and the restrictions for the elderly.

“During the pandemic, the number of job seekers decreased,” Ström noted.

“We thought that the older people who stopped working then would not return to the labour market again, but that assessment turned out to be wrong.

"Now we see that the proportion of jobseekers is increasing again in all ages, despite a messy world and a tough situation in the labour market.”

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