About 1,000 preschools may close in Sweden due to low birth rate
A low birth rate may lead to the closure of about 1,000 kindergartens (a tenth of their total number) in Sweden in the next three years, TASS reports
In her talk with the SVT TV channel, Annika Wallenskog, the chief economist at the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions, explained that the country will also need fewer schools in five to six years.
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, there was a sharp decline in the birth rate in Sweden in the first six months of this year: only 50.5 thousand children were born over that period, which was the lowest figure since the beginning of the 21st century. "The Central Bureau of Statistics counted on 130 thousand new-borns in 2027, but we see that there will be about 95 thousand of them. The reduction is huge,” Ms. Wallenskog stated.
