Looking beyond the average Swedish household carbon footprint

The analysis of over 800,000 responses from the Klimatkalkylatorn tool reveals that the average Swedish household carbon footprint is 4.3 tons CO2e per person, with significant variations based on municipality type, income, and family structure. Food is the largest emission driver overall, while air travel causes the widest disparities between households. The study highlights that residents in commuting municipalities near large cities often have the highest footprints, whereas those in large cities have the lowest overall footprints, primarily due to reduced car travel.

• The average carbon footprint among users of the Klimatkalkylatorn tool is 4.3 tons CO2e per person, which is slightly lower than the official Swedish EPA estimate of 4.6 tons CO2e.
• Food is the primary driver of greenhouse gas emissions for all analyzed municipality groups, accounting for 27% of the total footprint among users.
• Air travel is the consumption category that creates the most significant differences in carbon footprints between households and municipality groups, with residents of large cities having footprints twice as high as those in rural municipalities.
• Geographic location and municipality type influence footprint size; respondents in "Commuting municipalities near large cities" (group A2) have the highest overall footprint per person, while those in "Large cities" (group A1) have the lowest.
• Household size inversely affects the per person footprint; single-person households have the highest footprints, particularly in air travel and consumption of furniture and electronics, while households with one adult and four children have the lowest.
• There is a strong correlation between high average income levels in municipalities and higher carbon footprints, with air travel being the dominant emission source in high-income areas.

APA

Axelsson, K., Rahmati-Abkenar, M., & Dawkins, E. (2023). Looking beyond the average Swedish household carbon footprint. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/sei2023.057-household-sweden-klimatkalkylatorn.pdf

Chicago

Axelsson, Katarina, Mahboubeh Rahmati-Abkenar, and Elena Dawkins. Looking beyond the average Swedish household carbon footprint. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2023. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/sei2023.057-household-sweden-klimatkalkylatorn.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Axelsson |first1=Katarina |last2=Rahmati-Abkenar |first2=Mahboubeh |last3=Dawkins |first3=Elena |title=Looking beyond the average Swedish household carbon footprint |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=November 2023 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/sei2023.057-household-sweden-klimatkalkylatorn.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{axelsson2023looking, author = {Axelsson, Katarina and Rahmati-Abkenar, Mahboubeh and Dawkins, Elena}, title = {{Looking beyond the average Swedish household carbon footprint}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/sei2023.057-household-sweden-klimatkalkylatorn.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }