Disproportionate Number of Foreigners Have Debt at Sweden's State Bailiffs

A disproportionate number of foreign-born people have debt registered at Sweden’s state bailiffs Kronofogden, with 64 percent more debt relative to their proportion of the country's population. And the disparity is growing.

"45,000 debtors without a Swedish personal identity number are not included in the statistics. So the overrepresentation is likely even higher," Davor Vuleta, who studied the phenomenon for Kronofogden, explained to news agency TT.

A lack of higher education, unemployment, plus lower incomes are the main factors behind people ending up with debt registered at Kronofogen.

“And that applies for everyone, regardless of their background. A lot is dependant on structural problems like employment and income, but you can't entirely remove the individual's own responsibility," Vuleta noted.

Tax debt is also more common among people who moved to Sweden.

Unpaid student debt, TV licenses and fines are also more common for foreigners in Sweden.

Kronofogden is collaborating with other authorities like the Swedish Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket) and the Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) in order to work on more preventative measures.