Citation When using results based on data from Tabellverket in theses, teaching, or research, please cite the digital version of Tabellverket as follows: (eng) Demographic Data Base, CEDAR, Umeå University (2025) Tabellverket. https://doi.org/10.17197/tabellverket_v01
Description Tabellverket is a digital search tool connected to the TVGrund database at CEDAR, Umeå University. It contains demographic statistics derived from population and mortality forms submitted between 1749 and 1859.
As the world’s first systematically recorded population statistics, Tabellverket was created to collect information on the inhabitants of all Swedish parishes. Parish priests reported data on births, deaths, marriages, and other demographic events annually, or every fifth year, using standardized forms that were sent to the Tabellkommissionen in Stockholm. The material was then compiled and published in the series Bidrag till Sveriges officiella statistik, A. Befolkningsstatistik.
The name Tabellverket (“the Table System”) originates from the pre-printed forms with thematic tables used for reporting demographic information to the Tabellkommissionen. The statistics from 1749–1859 are internationally unique in their level of detail. In 1859, responsibility for data collection was transferred to Statistics Sweden (SCB).
Since the entire Swedish population at the time were members of the Church of Sweden, the statistics in practice cover the whole population. Tabellverket is therefore a unique cultural-historical source of great importance for research in history and historical demography.
The forms were digitized during the 1990s by the Demographic Data Base at Umeå University. In total, approximately 260,000 forms have been digitized, forming the foundation of the search tool.
