Employer contribution (arbetsgivaravgift)
Arbetsgivaravgift is the contribution your employer pays to the state on top of your gross salary. For 2026 it is 31.42% for most people. It never appears on your payslip, but it is the reason you cost your employer more than your salary.
What it funds
The contribution is not one lump sum to the treasury but a set of earmarked parts. The largest is the ålderspensionsavgift, which builds your public pension. The rest goes to sickness, parental, survivor, work-injury and labour-market insurance, plus a general payroll fee. So it is partly money that comes back to you as benefits, not just tax.
When it is reduced
The full rate applies to most people (born 1959 or later). For older workers who have turned 67 by the start of the year, the employer pays only the ålderspensionsavgift; the rest falls away. For the young (born 2003–2007) there is a temporary reduction on pay up to 25 000 kr a month, running April 2026 to September 2027. There is also växa-stöd for the first employee in a small firm.
Have a sole proprietorship?
Then you pay egenavgifter instead, which serve the same purpose but are somewhat lower (28.97%) than the employer contribution. The net-salary calculator uses the right rate when you pick employee, sole trader (enskild firma) or your own limited company.
Where it shows up
- Net salary calculator
- Salary sacrifice
- 3:12 calculator
When you negotiate pay it is your gross salary you are discussing, not the employer cost. Arbetsgivaravgift sits on top. An easy way to see the full cost of a hire is to let the net-salary calculator show the employer cost.