I’ve been a sports geek my entire life, and have often experienced how different sports cultures can be from country to country. I love getting into new sports when I travel, and when I moved from Sweden to countries like Australia and the US, there were quite a few new ones I had to get acquainted with (that I eventually grew to love watching and playing).
Since the national sports association in Sweden keeps excellent records, I figured I’d compile all the juicy data and list what the most popular sports and fitness activities actually are here in the Nordics.
Maybe you are considering a move or a trip here and are wondering what to expect? Maybe you want to broaden your horizons and learn how Swedes like to exercise? Or maybe you are just a sports nut like me and want to find out more about sports in Sweden out of pure curiosity.
Either way, I’ll walk you through Sweden’s most popular sports by number of participants, by number of spectators, and look at what other trends we can see in how Swedes like to exercise and play sports. Enjoy!
What Is the Most Popular Sport in Sweden?
Association Football (soccer) is by far the biggest sport in Sweden, with the most participants, biggest crowds, and highest revenue among all Swedish sports. Other very popular sports include Track & Field, Golf, Ice Hockey, Speedway, and Skiing.
Sweden is also an association sports-heavy country, with the majority of Swedes being a member of either a sports club (association) or gym. Furthermore, almost four out of five Swedes claim to exercise at least once or twice monthly.
Let’s first take a look in more detail how Swedes actually participate in sports on an association level and later on how to exercise like a Swede.
Top 20 sports in Sweden by participation
Source: Riksidrottsförbundet 2020
Football (soccer) is by far the most popular sport by number of participants in Sweden, with around 1.2 million active Swedish footballers in 2020. This means one in five Swedish athletes chose football as their sport, with around 6 million active athletes in total in the country.
Here is the full list of the most popular sports in Sweden by number of participants:
| Sport | # of Participants in Sweden 2020 |
|---|---|
| Football | 1 190 922 |
| Track & Field | 559 280 |
| Golf | 511 773 |
| Gymnastics | 394 534 |
| Floorball | 337 530 |
| Swim Sports | 249 588 |
| Ice Hockey | 233 985 |
| MC & Snow Mobile Racing | 168 397 |
| Equestrian Sports | 167 903 |
| Handball | 150 868 |
| Skiing | 142 227 |
| Basketball | 130 829 |
| Shooting Sports | 110 786 |
| Tennis | 110 654 |
| Martial Arts | 97 537 |
| Orienteering | 86 225 |
| Car Racing | 81 836 |
| Sailing | 72 062 |
| Cycling | 68 615 |
| Table Tennis | 61 681 |
Top 10 sports in Sweden by number of spectators
Source: SVT Sport 2019
When it comes to watching sports, Swedes also strongly prefer football (soccer) with the total of all average attendances landing at 179 526. But Ice Hockey isn’t very far behind, with 129 301 (meaning around 72% of the spectators that football draws).
Here is the full list ranked by the total sum of average spectators in each sport:
| Sport | # of Total Average Spectators in Sweden |
|---|---|
| Football | 179526 |
| Ice Hockey | 129301 |
| Speedway | 20517 |
| Handball | 16184 |
| Bandy | 14653 |
| Floorball | 7024 |
| Basketball | 6977 |
I am personally part of these statistics in the most cliche way possible, as a long-time Malmö FF season ticket holder while also being heavily involved in football on an association level as a coach for my son’s team.
What can I say? It’s a beautiful game. Anyway, I was curious how this translates per game, so let’s take a look at that next.
So how many people attend an average sports game in Sweden?
The average attendance among Allsvenskan teams (Swedish top division in football) was 9 166 per game in 2019, while the average for SHL teams (Ice Hockey) was 6 056 per game.
In 2019 this is how the average attendance for each team in Allsvenskan looked like:
| Team | Average Attendence 2019 |
|---|---|
| Hammarby | 24232 |
| AIK | 18969 |
| Djurgården | 15958 |
| Malmö FF | 16566 |
| IFK Göteborg | 12837 |
| Helsingborgs IF | 8344 |
| IFK Norrköping FK | 8476 |
| Örebro | 5783 |
| Kalmar FF | 5307 |
| IF Elfsborg | 5823 |
| Östersund | 4808 |
| IK Sirius FK | 4288 |
| GIF Sundsvall | 4620 |
| BK Häcken | 3631 |
| Falkenbergs FF | 3732 |
| Athletic Eskilstuna | 3276 |
So the Swedish people love both playing and watching football, but how does the money-end of the equation look? Well, you probably guessed which sport brought in the most money already (yep, it’s football), but let’s see which the other high earners are next.
Top 20 sports in Sweden by Total Revenue
| Sports | Total Revenue in SEK |
|---|---|
| Football | 575 754 000 |
| Golf | 129 568 000 |
| Ice hockey | 109 352 000 |
| Equestrian Sports | 108 089 000 |
| Floorball | 84 704 745 |
| Skiing | 68 334 000 |
| Parasports | 61 836 000 |
| Swimming | 54 110 000 |
| Track & Field | 50 924 000 |
| Gymnastics | 48 144 985 |
| Orienteering | 44 906 000 |
| Handball | 44 831 000 |
| Motorcycle/Snowmobile | 42 805 989 |
| Basketball | 42 326 000 |
| Car Racing | 38 420 602 |
| Ski Shooting | 38 128 652 |
| Sailing | 34 859 572 |
| Tennis | 33 321 000 |
| Floorball | 25 060 729 |
| Table Tennis | 24 313 952 |
Football is the Swedish sport that brought in most revenue in 2019, which wasn’t very surprising as it’s by far the most popular sport in Sweden. What’s a little surprising here is that golf brings in the second most revenue out of all Swedish sports, slightly more than ice hockey ( the 2nd biggest spectator sport).
That said, golf is the third most popular sport by number of participants and traditionally an upper-class sport, so it’s not entirely surprising to find it towards the top as far as revenue goes.
A similar observation could be made about Equestrian sports; popular in general and among the higher income brackets (leading to a lot of revenue as a result).
How Do Swedes Exercise?
Swedes love to go on walks, work out at the gym, and go out for a run. Almost four out of five Swedes claims to exercise more than a few times per month, which seems to hold up in my experience.
Top 10 most popular exercise activities in Sweden
- Walking/power walk/Nordic walk
- Weights/gym
- Running/jogging
- Biking/mountainbiking
- Swimming
- Group fitness (aerobics, step, zumba, etc.)
- Football (soccer)
- Downslope skiing/snowboard
- Yoga/meditation/chigong/relaxation/etc.
- Hiking/trekking
Source: Riksidrottsförbundet 2020
When it comes to staying active and exercising, Swedes love to go out for a walk, either the traditional way or in the form of a “power walk” or “Nordic walk” (with walking poles similar to ski poles). After walking, the next most popular form of exercise is hitting the gym, followed by running and biking.
I can personally attest to this as every single Swede I know love going for a good old-fashioned walk, either to stay in shape or just to get from A to B.
Most Swedish cities are filled to the brim with walking trails in parks and nature, pedestrian-only streets filled with shops and food spots, and a high level of walkability in general (meaning it’s pleasant to walk your way around the cities).
How Many Swedes Actually Exercise or Play Sports?
Almost four out of five Swedes claim to exercise at least once or twice per month according to a 2019 poll by SIFO, so in general Swedes like to at least view themselves as a pretty healthy bunch.
Jokes aside, in my experience most Swedes do seem to follow some type of exercise regime, so the numbers are probably fairly accurate in the end.
Gender Differences in Swedish Sports
Another area Sweden usually stands out in (in a good way) is gender equality, but there are definitely sports that are almost entirely dominated by either males or females, can you guess which ones?
The five most male-dominated sports in Sweden
- Air Sports
- Cricket
- American football
- Ice Hockey
- Motorcycle & Snowmobile Racing
Source: Riksidrottsförbundet 2020
The most male-dominated sport in Sweden is Air Sports (i.e. competitive flying) with 89% of participants being male. This is closely followed by Cricket with 88%, and American football with 86% of participants being male.
These are generally male-dominated sports else around the world as well, so Sweden doesn’t stand out much here in a global sense.
The five most female-dominated sports in Sweden
- Cheerleading
- Equestrian Sports
- Figure Skating
- Gymnastics
- Dog Sled Racing
Source: Riksidrottsförbundet 2020
The most female-dominated sport in Sweden is without a doubt Cheerleading, with 97% of participants being female. Equestrian sports are also mostly female with 92%, followed by Figure Skating with 82% female participants.
As my sister has been into equestrian sports her entire life, I have been dragged into the occasional horse event. In this capacity, I can confirm that almost everyone involved in horseback riding is female, with the occasional male horse enthusiast sprinkled in every now and then.
A unique sport for the Nordic region that is mostly dominated by women is dog-sledding, which involves competitions between dog-sledding teams in the winter landscapes around the arctic circle. There were a total of 8926 dog-sledders in Sweden in 2020.
I have not sat in a dog sled, but I have raced around in a reindeer sled up in Swedish Norrland—I’m guessing dogs are better at following commands than my reindeer was!
Summary – What is Ultimately the Biggest Sport in Sweden?
There is no doubt that football (soccer) is the number one sport in Sweden on all levels possible, having more than twice the participants of the second most popular sport (Track & Field). Football also draws the largest crowds, and as a result brings in the most revenue.
When it comes to exercise it’s all about walking for Swedes, and this simple form of exercise might be key to why most Swedes follow some sort of exercise regime.
Sources:
https://idrottsstatistik.se/foreningsidrott/medlemmar/
https://www.svt.se/sport/artikel/publikbarometern-2020
https://news.cision.com/se/stadium/r/ny-kartlaggning-av-svenskarnas-traningsvanor,c2717177
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