Geography and climate shape a low-density settlement structure
Upper Norrland is the northernmost region of Sweden and the largest region by land area. It borders Finland, Norway and Middle Norrland. It includes two TL3 regions, Västerbotten and Norrbotten. The TL3 region of Västerbotten is 1 of the 21 administrative regions that constitute Sweden. It shares the counties of Jämtlands, Norrbotten and Västernorrlands.
Västerbotten is home to 268 465 inhabitants, making it the biggest region of Upper Norrland. Its population is spread out in 15 municipalities, including the capital of the TL3 region Umeå (84 761 inhabitants), which is the largest city in Upper Norrland and ranks as the 13th largest city in Sweden. Norrbotten, on the other hand, is the northernmost TL3 region in Sweden. It is also the largest region of Upper Norrland in terms of land area (64% of Upper Norrland’s area). It shares a regional border with Västerbotten and a frontier with Finland and Norway. There are 14 municipalities within Norrbotten and its main city is Luleå with 77 832 inhabitants. Consistent with the OECD regional typology, Västerbotten and Norrbotten are classified as remote TL3 region.
Upper Norrland has the smallest share of built-up land area in Sweden. Upper Norrland is Sweden’s largest
dedicated to heathland and herb meadow (19% of total land area) and the smallest built-up area (including housing and industry, 0.7%) in the country (Figure 2.2). A similar effect occurs in Västerbotten. It is the third lowest TL3 region in terms of build-up area (1.3%), with forest covering most of its territory (73%). It represents a great environmental asset and an important economic sector in the region.
Figure 2.1. Västerbotten, Norrbotten and mining municipalities (selected)
Figure 2.2. Land use in Sweden’s TL3 regions, 2018
Note: Total forest includes productive and non-productive forest. Others include arable and grazing land, land used for golf courses and ski runs, bare rock and other land, and open mine.
Source:Statistics Sweden (2019[11]), Statistical Database, http://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE010 1A/?rxid=3a012fe9-414f-47c2-8b84-25feb829e48d (accessed on 5 June 2019).
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
NorrbottenJämtland VästerbottenDalarna VästernorrlandSödermanlandVästmanlandÖstergötlandKronobergGävleborgJönköpingVärmlandUppsalaGotlandKalmarÖrebro Västra GötalandStockholmBlekingeHallandSkåne
% Built-up land and associated land Heathland and herb meadow Land with pits, quarries and mines
Total forest Others
Upper Norrland has five local labour markets (LLMs) that represent an economic enclave within the region (Jokinen et al., 2020[12]). Identifying the LLMs is important to understand the labour dynamics and the centres of economic activity in a region (Box 2.2). LLMs contain at least two contiguous municipalities where there is a significant degree of commuting across municipal borders and a central municipality where most workers of the LLM commute daily to work. Västerbotten has three of Upper Norrland’s LLMs, with Lycksele, Skellefteå and Umeå as central municipalities for each of them (Table 2.2). As the biggest city in the region, Umeå is the centre of the largest LLM in terms of population in Upper Norrland (127 119 inhabitants in 2018). In Norrbotten, there are two LLMs with Kiruna and Luleå as the main centres. Some municipalities form self-contained or independent LLMs, which are characterised by single municipalities that have a particularly strong – location-specific – advantage that offsets its high degree of geographic isolation or/and limits opportunities for commuting. Gällivare in Norrbotten is one example of a self-contained LLM with most of its inhabitants working in the same municipality and relatively low daily commuting from other areas.
Table 2.2. LLMs and municipalities in Upper Norrland
TL3 region Local labour market Municipality
Västerbotten
Lycksele Lycksele
Malå
Umeå
Bjurholm Nordmaling Robertsfors Umeå Vindeln Vännäs
Skellefteå Skellefteå
Norsjö
Norrbotten
Luleå
Boden Luleå Älvsbyn
Kalix Piteå
Kiruna Kiruna
Pajala Source: Jokinen, J. et al. (2020[12]), State of the Nordic Region 2020, http://dx.doi.org/10.6027/no2020-001.
Box 2.2. Local labour markets in Northern Sparsely Populated Areas
LLMs are relevant units of analysis for sparsely populated areas as Upper Norrland, given that they offer the best opportunity for additional economic growth and demographic stability. This does not mean that municipalities that are not integrated into an LLM should be ignored, nor that economic growth takes place in all current LLMs, but that the LLMs offer the best opportunity to understand how and where economic progress is currently taking place in the Northern Sparsely Populated Areas (NSPA).
Special characteristics of LLMs are:
LLMs correspond to where economic activity is concentrated because the size of an LLM is related to the size of the local economy.
The size of the LLM is a rough proxy for demographic sustainability as larger LLMs are associated with in-migration, while self-contained LLMs are associated with demographic decline.
LLMs correspond to a local economy since they capture both the aggregate local demand for labour that comes from a particular set of employment opportunities and the available local supply of labour that consists of workers who are prepared to travel for work.
LLMs for the NSPA regions were built by fulfilling at least the following criteria:
Municipalities belonging to an LLM should have a single out-commuting flow to another municipality that is more than 7.5% of its employed population. The central municipality in the LLM is determined by having more internal employment than commuting employees and an out-commuting rate of less than 20% of the employed population.
In the case where a municipality has less than the threshold level of out-commuting, it is described as a self-contained LLM.
Source: Jokinen, J. et al. (2020[12]), State of the Nordic Region 2020, http://dx.doi.org/10.6027/no2020-001; Freshwater, D., A. Simms and J. Ward (2014[13]), “LLMs as a new way of organizing policies for stronger regional development in Atlantic, Canada”.
Northern Sweden is one of the most mineralised areas in Europe
Mining is a relevant sector for the national economy and Upper Norrland is the region with the largest mining production and number of mines in the country. The mining sector represents 4.2% of the national gross value added (GVA). Upper Norrland concentrates 9 of the 12 active mines in Sweden, focused mainly on metal extraction including, copper, iron ore and gold. Mining in Upper Norrland represents 19%
of its regional GDP, ranking as the second TL2 Swedish region with the highest share of mining in the regional GDP. As a share of the national economy, Upper Norrland represents 4.8% of Sweden’s GDP (2018).
Figure 2.3. GDP share of mining, quarrying and manufacturing over total GDP, 2017
Note: GDP current prices, million SEK by region calculated as a percentage.
Source: Statistics Sweden (2019[11]), Statistical Database, http://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE01 01A/?rxid=3a012fe9-414f-47c2-8b84-25feb829e48d (accessed on 5 June 2019).
At the TL3 level, Norrbotten is the largest region in mining production (Figure 2.3). The TL3 region has five of the active mines in Sweden, focusing its mining extraction on copper and iron ore. Norrbotten has all the iron ore mines of Sweden and the largest underground iron ore mine in the world (in Kiruna municipality). The region has also Europe’s largest copper mine, Sweden’s largest gold mine (Aitik in Gällivare) and iron ore open-pit operations in Kiruna, Pajala and Svappavaara.
The case of Västerbotten has many similarities, as the backbone of the regional economy has been mining, forestry and energy. Its capital, Umeå, has emerged as a port to trade timber from the interior and goods from Lapland. Västerbotten has a large mining industry, which includes the extraction and processing facilities of gold, copper and zinc from its four active mines.
0 5 10 15 20 25
Småland and
islands Upper Norrland West Sweden North-Central
Sweden East-Central
Sweden Sweden South Sweden Central Norrland Stockholm
%
Figure 2.4. Value of annual production in SEK millions by TL3 region, 2018
Note: Aggregate is the name for gravel, sand and crushed bedrock. Aggregates are used in concrete and asphalt as a filler and as railway track ballast, among other things.
Source: Geological Survey of Sweden (2018[14]), Fact about Minerals & Metals 2018, https://www.sgu.se/globalassets/mineralnaring/facts-about-minerals-and-metals-2018.pdf.
Within these regions, mining is mainly concentrated in rural municipalities. The municipalities with the most mining activity in Norrbotten are Gällivar, Kiruna and Pajala, between three- and four-hours’ drive by car from Luleå respectively. Luleå is a key player for the mining value chain of Norrbotten by hosting one of LKAB’s harbours and the processing facilities for iron and steelmaking of the manufacturing company SSAB, earlier called Svenskt Stål AB. In Västerbotten, the main mining municipalities are Lycksele, Malå and Skellefteå, which are relatively closer to the regional urban centre, at less than two hours ride to Umeå.
This chapter includes analysis on the performance of Upper Norrland’s mining municipalities in comparison with the main urban centres of the region, Luleå and Umeå. The chapter will take Kiruna as a proxy of the
dynamics in Gällivare due to the similar number of inhabitants in these municipalities. Jokkmokk in Norrbotten has been included in the analysis as this municipality has experienced an important interest in mining exploration in recent years (Chapter 4). Table 2.3 describes the main municipalities that will be analysed in this chapter.
Table 2.3. Cities and mining municipalities selected in Upper Norrland, 2018
Municipality Population Density (individuals/km2)
Umeå 127 119 24
Luleå 77 832 16
Skellefteå 72 467 7.3
Kiruna 22 992 1.1
Lycksele 12 228 8.5
Pajala 6 039 0.75
Jokkmokk 5 001 0.26
Note: Number of inhabitants in 2018.
Source: Statistics Sweden (2019[11]), Statistical Database, http://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE01 01A/?rxid=3a012fe9-414f-47c2-8b84-25feb829e48d (accessed on 5 June 2019).
At the TL3 level, Norrbotten is particularly focused on mining and forestry. Mining is vital to the economic performance of the region and accounts for 90% of the iron ore production of Europe, owning all the iron ore mines of Sweden. Production in 2018 from Kiruna, Malmberget and Svappavaara amounted to 26.9 million tonnes, while Boliden Aitik 2019 produced 38.4 million tonnes. The case of Västerbotten has many similarities; the backbone of the regional economy has been mining, forestry and energy. The city emerged as a port to trade timber from the interior and goods from Lapland. The region has a large mining industry, which includes the extraction and processing of gold, copper and zinc.