Report release: the Swedish Internet Foundation’s Swedes and the Internet 2026
Swedes and the Internet is an annual study carried out by the Swedish Internet Foundation. It examines how the Swedish public uses the internet, AI and other e-services.
Novus remains a proud research partner to the Swedish Internet Foundation and is pleased to once again carry out the data collection for all the studies in the report. We have a long-standing collaboration with the Swedish Internet Foundation, in which method development plays a major role, together with ensuring the survey maintains the highest quality at every stage.
“Swedes and the Internet is an important report used by everyone from decision-makers to specialist professionals. It needs to be able to serve as the basis for important decisions taken in Sweden at different levels. That is why it is absolutely crucial that the data is collected in a high-quality, methodical way that is also sustainable over time. We have found a well-functioning, long-term set-up together with Novus,” says Jannike Tillå, Vice President Communications & Public Benefit at the Swedish Internet Foundation.
Among other things, the project uses our randomly recruited Sweden Panel , which covers a broad sample of the internet-using population aged 18 to 89+. It also covers children from the age of 8 and their parents. For infrequent users and non-users of the internet, supplementary telephone interviews were carried out to reflect the whole of Swedish society.
This year’s report highlights several trends. Above all, it shows that AI has gone from novelty to an integrated everyday tool, while social media use among children is declining. At the same time, many say they end up in passive, addictive doomscrolling. One in two Swedes is also interested in taking a digital detox.
Per Fernström is the lead adviser for the project at Novus.
“The Swedish Internet Foundation does a fantastic job with Swedes and the Internet. It is an initiative that gives Sweden a valuable, recurring picture of how digitalisation is affecting our whole society. The fact that the results are also made available and widely shared creates good conditions for an important, fact-based discussion.”
