Video by Maddy Savage and Benoît Derrier.

A high income is a badge of success in many countries, but Swedes have a deep-rooted aversion to talking about their cash. Our repeated efforts to arrange interviews with young, wealthy Swedes proved tricky; off-the-record, people were happy to talk about large second homes, family yachts, sports cars or champagne sprees in nightclubs, but getting them to formalise their comments was a struggle.

“I have a feeling that it will come across as bragging, which unfortunately I don’t feel comfortable with,” read one text message that seemed representative of the sentiment felt by many. Others agreed to be interviewed and then became “too busy” or simply ghosted us.

But why is this? While discussing your wealth feels perfectly appropriate in some parts of the world, why does it seem like nobody in Stockholm is proud of being rich?

The concept of Jantelagen

Lola Akinmade Åkerström, an author on Swedish culture who’s been living in Stockholm for more than a decade, says talking about money is “a very uncomfortable subject” in Sweden. She argues that boasting about wealth – or even discussing a moderate salary with a stranger – is such a taboo that many Swedes would actually feel “more comfortable talking about sex and bodily functions”.

It is a view shared by Stina Dahlgren, a 28-year-old Swedish journalist who spent several years living in the US. “Over in the States, when you say that you're earning a lot of money, people are cheering for you and they say: ‘good for you, good work’. But over here in Sweden, if you say that you have a good salary... people think you're weird,” she says. “You don’t ask about salaries, you don't ask about money.”