Stockholm During The Age of Liberty - Population

Following the Treaty of Nystad in 1722, Sweden's roll as a major European power was over, and the decades that followed brought even further disaster; Black death and the sufferings caused by the Great Northern Wars made Stockholm the capital of a shrinking nation, a despair which would deepen even further as Sweden lost Finland in 1809. Notwithstanding Sweden managed to recover with the union with Norway in 1814, during the period 1750–1850 Stockholm was a city in despair with a dwindling population, widespread unemployment, marked by ill-health, poverty, alcoholism, and ramping mortality. While population in Stockholm grew from 60.000 to 90.000 during the period 1750-1850, most of this growth occurred after 1810, and other major cities in southern and western Sweden grew more rapidly, why Stockholm lost much of its hegemony while remaining the largest Swedish city.

There was a surplus of women during the period, not exclusively in Stockholm but more pronounced there, much due to wars and alcohol abuse. A side effect of this was widows outnumbering widowers 6:1 in 1850; and the number of unmarried people increased (not only in Stockholm but in Swedish cities overall.) Falling short of the social security a marriage meant at this time, infant mortality was severe, and as most people who moved into the city were adults, there were few children. average length of life was 44 (compared to 70 today), which mostly reflects the high infant mortality. People who managed to survive infancy were likely to get about as old as people do today, especially if they had the luck to be able to avoid hard labour.