Women in media in Sweden - Statistics & Facts

While the average monthly salary of Swedish female employees and managers in the media industry keeps increasing, it remained inferior to that of their male counterparts in 2021. Not only are women earning less, but they are also less present in these male-dominated industries. In 2021, approximately 3,400 male managers were working in the media industry, compared to just 2,100 female managers. Zooming in on the consumer side of the media industry, one can see that Swedish women are also a force to be reckoned with as they typically spend more time consulting social media, streaming TV, or reading than male consumers do.

Role reversal

In 2020, Swedish full-length movies were perfectly split between male-, female- and mixed-led productions, while almost half of foreign movies were centered around a male main character. Behind the camera, female movie and stage directors and producers earned more, their salary representing 106 percent of their male counterparts’ salary in 2020. That same phenomenon could be observed in the music industry; female musicians have outnumbered male music artists in 2020 after tying with them in 2019. Not only that, but female musicians, singers, and composers have also turned the tide in terms of financial compensation: according to the latest data, female musicians have earned more than men from the same field since 2018.

Game of the sexes

The Swedish gaming industry is booming, and Swedish games are among the country's biggest cultural exports. Success stories such as the Minecraft and Candy Crush Saga, or the survival game Valheim most recently, have helped cement Sweden’s influence on the gaming world. Behind the scenes, the business remains mostly male-dominated, as is the case across most markets. Reports on gender diversity among employees in the Swedish gaming industry have shown that the vast majority of gaming developers are male. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the salary of female game and digital media developers also remains lower than that of their male colleagues despite some recent gains.

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