Estimating Sweden’s population in the Early Modern Period: Methods and numbers

The size of Sweden´s Early Modern population, c. 1570 and c. 1630, has been heavily debated. In this article, new estimates are made and previous suggestions by other researchers are scrutinized. The author presents and interprets extant sources from the periods. For Sweden within today´s borders c. 1570, a population of about 731,000 persons is suggested; for c. 1630 929,000. For the year 1700 the figure 1,369,000 is accepted. The estimates indicate average annual growth rates 1570-1700 of 0.48 and 1630-1700 of 0.55 percent. of 0.55 percent.These rates are unexpectedly high and comparable to rates for England and the Netherlands. The article suggests that the high Swedish growth rate may have been related to its growing economic and industrial bonds to these dynamic North Sea node