Last year, LO unions continued to lose members, and the largest decrease was seen at IF Metall, which in recent years has become most known for its opposition to the Sweden Democrats and Tesla.

In 2025, the LO unions lost 5,689 members, and just over 80 percent of those belonged to IF Metall. This is about the same number as was lost in 2024.

IF Metall’s union secretary, Martin Gunnarsson, calls the loss unpleasant and points out that the share of employed members in the union remains at the same level — between 72 and 74 percent. Still, they are not entirely satisfied with this figure and would rather see it reach up to 85 percent.

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Despite these continued high losses, the situation used to be even worse — during the past ten years, losses often ranged between 10,000 and 20,000 members per year.

Yet, IF Metall’s loss stands out, something which is believed to be partly explained by Northvolt’s bankruptcy, although at the same time, the defense industry and mining sectors are expanding.

More Immigrants and Women

According to Anders Kjellberg, professor of sociology at Lund University, it is important to have elected representatives at workplaces who represent different groups, such as those born abroad. Martin Gunnarsson agrees.

– We need to get better at reflecting our membership base. We need more people with different ethnic backgrounds and more women. We also need more younger members. Recognition plays an important role, he told Dagens Arbete.

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