Sweden faces preschool closures and school attendance discrepancies

Sweden is facing significant shifts in its educational landscape due to declining birth rates. Since 2019, approximately 1,200 preschools have closed, and Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner estimates that another 750 could disappear over the next five years. This trend reflects a record low fertility rate in Sweden, which reached approximately 1.42 children per woman in 2025.

While educators suggest that fewer children could allow for smaller groups and higher teacher density, municipal economic logic often leads to closures and staff reductions to manage costs.

Separately, in Malmö, school authorities are investigating the unexplained absence of 109 students from primary schools. While there are concerns regarding potential child marriage or children being taken abroad against a guardian's will in a few specific cases, officials note that the majority of these instances are attributed to errors in the population registration system, where approximately 2-3 percent of registry data is inaccurate.