Sweden Today:

Swedes in Stockholm are the most tattooed people in the world. Swedish boy breaks a world record. Packing on the pounds. Swedish pensions not so perfect. Luxury yacht stuns Swedes. 

  • Stieg Larsson's girl with the dragon tattoo is in good company: Swedes are the most tattooed people in the world.
  • Tattoos take off
    Metro International and United Minds surveyed 30 cities in 6 countries where 15,000 urbanites answered questions, revealing 33 percent of Stockholmers between the ages of 18-49 are tattooed — making Swedes in Stockholm the most tattooed group in the world. A first of its kind tattoo marketplace is capitalizing on this growing trend with Inkbay (www.inkbay.tattoo) which aims to revolutionize the tattoo industry. It provides tattoo lovers with direct connections to tattoo artists and providers. By bringing the top tattoo artists from Stockholm, Malmö and Gothenburg together, buyers and sellers can connect to “find, book, and buy tattoos.”

  • A Swedish boy breaks a world record by collecting more promotional pens than anyone else ever has.
  • Swedish boy breaks a world record
    Adam Karlsson, a young boy from Motala, Sweden, has broken the world record for collecting the most promotional pens, thanks to the help of friends and strangers all around the world. Adam, who has autism and is an avid collector of promotional pens, was struggling after the death of his grandmother. Putting out a plea on social media to help restore her son’s happiness in time for his 10th birthday, Adam’s mother Katya was stunned when people started sending pens. The world record for most promotional pens is 285,000 and Adam already has over 299,650 pens — and is still counting. Katya estimates the number could easily top 300,000. Follow his progress at www.facebook.com/adam.karlsson.7967

  • Packing on the pounds
    A new survey shows that over half of all Swedes between the ages of 16 to 84 are overweight. Breaking down the numbers even further, it seems those on the older side of the age spectrum are the heaviest, with 45- to 64-year-olds and 65- to 84-year-olds being 61% more obese than the 16- to 29-year-old Swedes who come in at 29% obese. Scientist Stephan Rösser says this should come as no surprise since “people move less and eat more.” Adding to the struggle to maintain a healthy weight is the psychological aspect of being obese which often leads people to isolate themselves in shame, thereby increasing their chances of continuing habits that will not help them lose weight.

  • Swedish pensions not so perfect
    New legislation has changed the way Swedes are being encouraged to save for their pensions. In the past they were allowed to set aside a significant amount of their savings and have the amount tax-free until they withdrew it upon retirement. Those days are gone, and now Swedes — younger Swedes in particular — are being cautioned to focus more on saving money now and planning to work past the normal retirement age of 65 if they want to have enough money to see them through retirement.

  • Luxury yacht stuns Swedes
    American entrepreneur Jonathan Rothberg wowed Swedes with his super-sized luxury yacht as he sailed along Sweden’s west coast. The 55-meter-long (180 feet) yacht is called the Gene Machine and is worth $40 million. Rothberg, who won the National Medal for Technology and Innovation awarded by former President Barak Obama for his work in DNA analysis, was sailing with his family through Europe from Monaco. The Swedes who had a chance to see this amazing yacht won’t forget it anytime soon.