What is the Sociala Kompassen?

The Sociala Kompassen (Social Compass) has been used by municipalities and regions for more than 10 years to understand the socioeconomic situation in different areas. Using statistical methods and a well-recieved visualisation, it highlights the distinctive character of each area and how they relate to one another. Instead of looking at one socioeconomic measure at a time, it gives a visual overview, which makes the current situation, similarities and differences easy to understand. The Sociala Kompassen is based on ten selected socioeconomic and demographic measures that describe residents' circumstances and characteristics, including age, income, unemployment and country of birth.

Each year, Statisticon produces a Social Kompass nationally for all of Sweden's municipalities and, on request, locally for sub-areas within a municipality or region. It is often used in work on social sustainability, community safety and tackling segregation.

How is a Social Kompass produced?

The work begins with a dialogue with the client about which areas are to be studied. Data is then collected, the analysis is carried out and visualisations are produced. The result is presented as a Social Kompass, in which the regions are also grouped and colour-coded according to which are most similar. The Sociala Kompassen also includes:

• Geographical maps coloured by compass group

• An analysis of each compass group

• Visualisations of differences between men and women

• Visualisations of each measure for each area

• Change over time - if the Sociala Kompassen has previously been produced for sub-areas in the municipality or region

• A written summary analysis

The standard version can be supplemented with:

• Additional measures, such as housing tenure or elgibility for upper secondary school (gymnasiet), with visualisations

• Area profiles focusing on migration flows or population surveys

• A digital tool for exploring further measures and visualisations

• In-depth analyses based on identified issues

• Presentations and workshops to share the findings and build understanding