Demographic Trends in Sweden's Transgender Population (1973–2020)

Abstract

Our study examines the prevalence of gender transitions in Sweden over time and documents the sociodemographic characteristics of people transitioning in different periods. We use population-wide register data from 1973 to 2020 of the transgender population and identify two common events in a gender transition: the earliest diagnosis of gender incongruence and the change of legal gender. We have three main findings. First, the measured prevalence of both types of events is quite low in all periods, although it has increased substantially since the early 2010s. Second, the recent increase in transition prevalence is most pronounced among people in early adulthood; in particular, young transgender men drive an increase in overall rates through 2018, followed by a moderate decline in 2019 and 2020. Third, both transgender men and women fare worse socioeconomically than cisgender men and women, regardless of the age at which they transition or the year.