The women's average salary in 2019 was SEK 33,500 - 90.1 per cent of the men's average salary of SEK 37,200.

- It is difficult to say other than that it is a dramatic development, says Mediation Institute Director-General Irene Wennemo in a press release.

The report shows, among other things, that gender segregation in the labor market is decreasing, which is an explanation for the gap narrowing. More women are entering male-dominated professions at the same time as more men are entering female-dominated industries.

At the same time, according to the report, the labor market is still relatively divided, which is why there is still a significant wage differential.

The unexplained wage difference

Taking into account age, occupation, education and other measured factors, the remaining, unexplained, wage differential is 4.2 percent.

"The unexplained difference is not a measure of discrimination because all potential causes are not measurable," says Irene Wennemo.

The Mediation Institute's analysis shows that the differences are reduced from both a long-term and short-term perspective. Between 2005 and 2019 the difference has decreased by 6.4 percentage points and between 2018 and 2019 it decreased by 0.8 percentage points.

The biggest reduction in the wage gap between 2018 and 2019 occurred among officials in the private sector and within the regions. In both groups, the unweighted difference has decreased by 1.2 percentage points. 

By unweighted difference here is meant emphasizing the wage differences between the groups of men and women as a whole instead of setting specific occupational groups against each other.