Sweden has become a “hot spot” for the super-rich in Europe / Article

The British broadcaster BBC reports that although in Sweden higher earners are taxed at more than 50% of their personal income, one of the highest rates in Europe,

several governments, both right and left, have adjusted some taxes to favor the wealthy.

For example, the country abolished estate and inheritance taxes in the 2000s, and tax rates on stocks and earnings for corporate shareholders are much lower than taxes on wages. The corporate income tax rate has also fallen from around 30% in the 1990s to around 20%, which is slightly lower than the European average.

It has been calculated how many super-rich people there are in Sweden. Various business media have counted the rich quite accurately. One of them mentions that about 30 years ago, there were only 28 people in Sweden with a net worth of one billion kroner, or about $90 million. Most of them come from families that have been wealthy for generations.

The latest data show that there are already more than 540 “crown billionaires” in Sweden, which means that the number of rich people has increased almost twenty times. And they own wealth equivalent to 70% of the country’s gross domestic product.

Sweden’s rich list also reveals that the country’s wealth remains heavily concentrated in the hands of white men, despite the country’s large immigrant population and decades of gender equality policies.

One of the reasons for the rise in the number of new super-rich is Sweden’s booming technology sector.

This country is known as the Silicon Valley of Europe, because in the last twenty years more than 40 so-called “unicorn” start-ups – companies with a value of more than one billion US dollars – have been created there.

When it comes to companies known to a large part of the public, it can be mentioned that Skype and Spotify have been founded in Sweden, as well as several game companies and successful financial technology start-ups.

Another aspect is Sweden’s monetary policy, which has helped turn the country into a paradise for the super-rich.

Sweden had very low interest rates from the beginning of 2010, which has changed in recent years. But still, low interest rates for more than a decade have made it cheap to borrow money, so Swedes with cash to spare have often opted to invest in property or high-risk investments such as technology startups, which have seen their value skyrocket.

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