Swedish News:

Increase in strokes among young. Bees — among the most dangerous insects. Remittances for over $2.5 billion 

  • The wasp — one of Sweden's most dangerous insects. Each year two to five people die of the sting from a bee or wasp.
  • Increase in strokes among young
    More and more young Swedes suffer stroke. Since the mid 1990s, the number of affected men in the 35-44 age category has increased by 18 percent, while for women in the same age group, the increase is 16 percent. This according to a forthcoming report from Folkhälsomyndigheten (the Public Health Agency of Sweden).

  • Since the mid 1990s, the number of men in the 35-44 age group suffering from stroke has increased 18 percent.
  • Bees — among the most dangerous insects
    Bees and wasps are among the most dangerous insects in Sweden, according to myggfeber.se. Each year, two to five people die of a sting from a bee or a wasp that has caused an allergic reaction. In all fatal cases, the person in question was stung either on the neck or the face.

  • The wasp — one of Sweden's most dangerous insects. Each year two to five people die of the sting from a bee or wasp.
  • Remittances for over $2.5 billion
    In 2013, immigrants in Sweden sent 17 billion SEK ($2.5 billion) to their home countries. That’s the equivalent of Sweden’s entire aid budget. This is an estimate made by Ria Financial Services; there’s no official compilation of facts. Instead, Ria has based its information on what their own clients are doing. The immigrants sent the money to family members in their home countries, an average of 3,200 SEK ($490) per transfer, often one transfer a month, according to Ria Norden’s director Torbjörn Sandahl. It's a well known fact that the remittances to family members at home often mean more than international aid. Estimates vary, but when it comes to countries like the Philippines and Yemen, the money sent home corresponds to several percentage points of these countries’ GDP. This was also the case in Sweden around the turn of last century, when Swedes abroad sent money home, first and foremost from the U.S., to a value that experts estimate at over one percent of the GDP. The money flows contributed to an initial modernization and rationalization of the Swedish agriculture. Sandahl is of the opinion that direct payments are an effective form of assistance. “It goes straight to those who need it, not through organizations that have their costs,” he says. The country that receives the most remittances from immigrants in Sweden is Iraq — more than 1.5 billion SEK ($228 million) was transferred last year. Iraq is followed by Poland at just under 900 million SEK ($137 million), Iran 784 million SEK ($119 million), Turkey 727 million SEK ($110 million), and Bosnia with 676 million SEK ($103 million). Most of the money was sent from the three Swedish metropolitan counties, which together accounted for two thirds of the total transfers.