Currently 17,500 active gang criminals in Sweden
Around 67,500 people in Sweden have links to criminal gangs. 17,500 of them are active gang criminals, while a further 50,000 are involved in their immediate environment.
07.11.2025, 12:27
SDA
This was announced by the Swedish police in a current situation report on the long-standing problem with criminal networks in the country.
"We see that we continue to have far too large a group of people who are either active gang criminals or have links to them," explained Sweden's police chief Petra Lundh. The police are working hard to counteract this socially threatening crime - but other parts of society are also needed to stop the recruitment of new gang members, from preschools to schools and social services.
Many gang leaders are hiding abroad
Sweden, a country with a population of 11 million, has been struggling with criminal gangs for several years, including power struggles for market supremacy in the drug business. According to the situation report, most of the active criminals in the country live in the three metropolitan regions of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. 81 percent of them are exclusively Swedish, 11 percent exclusively foreign and 8 percent dual nationals. 94 percent of them are male, and around one in 20 of the criminals is still a minor.
Many high-ranking gang members have also fled abroad. Several of them were recently extradited to Sweden in cooperation with the relevant countries. There they can now be brought to justice for their crimes, explained Lundh.
