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'''FIGURE 7. Vital rates (U/OU)''' (chart)

'''FIGURE 8. Comparative birth and death rates in selected Western countries, 1970 (U/OU)''' (chart)

Sweden's annual rate of population increase averaged 0.7% from 1960 to 1970. In view of the low birth rate and high longevity, Sweden appears to be facing a decelerating rate of growth in the coming decades, which could result in a static population of about 8.5 million by 1980.

D. Manpower and labor

1. Labor force

In 1970 Sweden's labor force averaged 3,913,000, up about 56,000 over the 1969 figure. The percentage increase in the labor force was 4.5% from 1950 to 1960, and 17% from 1960 to 1970. About one-third of the rapid increase from 1960 to 1970 is explained by the wholesale immigration of foreign workers, who now constitute 5% of the population and 5.7% of the labor force. There has also been a rise in the employment of married women. The working-age group (comprising ages 15 to 64) expanded from 4.7 million in 1950 to 5.3 million in 1970—an increase in 12.7% and approximated 66% of the total population for the entire period. The size of the total population relative to the labor force as established by the 1965 census is shown in Figure 9.

The labor force has absorbed about three-fourths of the conventionally (UNESCO) defined working-age group (ages 15-64), one of the highest proportions in Europe. The remaining 25% represents a labor reserve composed mainly of women. Notwithstanding a number of factors tending to reduce the proportion of the population actually in the labor force—longer periods of schooling for youth, shortening the work week, granting pensions at an earlier age, and longer life expectancy—the proportion will remain about the

'''FIGURE 9. Population and labor force, 1966 (U/OU)''' (chart)

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