At Least 40 Million Kronor in Welfare Payments Mistakenly Given to Individuals Without Residency Rights in Sweden

An analysis by Sweden's Utbetalningsmyndigheten (Payment Authority) has uncovered that at least 40 million kronor were incorrectly paid out in 2024 to around 2,000 individuals who do not have the legal right to reside in Sweden. These amounts involve various welfare programs, notably unemployment benefits (a-kassa), child allowances (barnbidrag), parental benefits (föräldrapenning), and activity support (aktivitetsstöd).

The issue surfaced through a coordinated data matching effort involving several government agencies including the Tax Agency (Skatteverket), the Migration Agency (Migrationsverket), the Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan), the Pension Authority, the Employment Agency, and the unemployment insurance funds. This multi-agency cooperation flagged numerous payments to persons lacking valid residency permits or facing deportation.

A significant challenge lies with individuals who possess coordination numbers—unique identifiers assigned to people not formally registered in Sweden—because Migrationsverket does not include these numbers in their records. This gap makes verifying the residency status of these individuals impossible, meaning the actual amount of erroneous payments may be substantially higher than the reported 40 million kronor.

Per Eleblad, the director-general of Utbetalningsmyndigheten, stressed the gravity of the situation, noting that eligibility for some benefits, especially a-kassa, requires being available for the labor market—something not feasible for those without legal residency. He stated that the agency has already alerted Försäkringskassan about child benefits being paid to unauthorized recipients and plans to broaden the review to cover all social welfare payments suspected of being disbursed incorrectly. The Payment Authority is developing advanced analytic models to permanently curb these erroneous payments.

Border police reports corroborate the findings, indicating frequent welfare payments made even to those scheduled for deportation, highlighting loopholes in current oversight. Previous government audits estimated welfare payments totaling approximately 435 million kronor between 2014 and 2020 had gone to people with expired residency permits, underscoring the systemic nature of the issue.

The authorities are moving to establish permanent surveillance and verification protocols to prevent future incorrect payments and ensure welfare resources reach only eligible recipients.