Upper Norrland is the largest Swedish Territorial Level 2 (TL2) region in terms of land area and concentrates 5% of Sweden’s population, which makes it the least densely populated region in the country (3.4 inhabitants per square kilometre). Upper Norrland includes two TL3 regions (Västerbotten and Norrbotten). Amongst the two, Västerbotten is more densely populated (4.8 inhabitants per square kilometre) and hosts the largest city in the region (Umeå), home to 24% of Upper Norrland’s population. Norrbotten, in turn, is larger in land area (64% of Upper Norrland) and concentrates most of the active mines and largest production volumes in Sweden. Upper Norrland has the third-highest level of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita across the 8 TL2 regions in Sweden and a lower unemployment rate (5.1%) than Sweden (6.9%) and 40 TL2 OECD mining regions (7.3%).
Upper Norrland concentrates 9 of the 12 active mines in Sweden and provides 90% of the iron ore, 39% of the lead, 37% of the zinc and 24% of the gold production in the European Union (EU). This makes it a key mining region at the national and European levels. Upper Norrland has the largest underground iron ore mine in the world (in Kiruna) and Europe’s largest copper mine (in Gällivare). Norrbotten hosts five mines extracting mainly iron ore and copper, which and are located in northern municipalities of Gällivare, Kiruna and Pajala. In the case of Västerbotten, most of the mines produce lead, gold, copper and zinc and are concentrated in the municipalities of Lycksele and Skellefteå. Mining is a relevant driver for growth in Upper Norrland, providing 19% of regional GDP. The state-own company LKAB and the private company Boliden are leading Upper Norrland’s mining operation and production.