Scanian Economic Demographic Database (SEDD)
Centre for Economic Demography
SEDD is a high-quality longitudinal database covering five Scanian parishes (Halmstad, Hög, Kågeröd, Kävlinge and Sireköpinge) and the city of Landskrona. It spans the period 1646-1967, with full coverage of the entire population from c. 1815 for the five parishes, and from 1880 for Landskrona.
SEDD is unique in several respects. It covers a longer period than most comparable databases and has a wealth of information at varying levels of aggregation. At the individual level, SEDD combines various demographic and socioeconomic records, including causes of death, place of birth and geographic data on the place of residence within a parish. All individuals present after 1947, and a considerable number of individuals also before this date through links to the 1950 census and the Swedish Death Index, have unique personal numbers which enable direct links to the national registration from 1968 onwards (and sometimes earlier).
At present (2023), the database contains 215,000 unique individuals, and over 100,000 vital events and 300,000 migration events. The Scanian Economic Demographic Database is the result of project collaborations between the Centre for Economic Demography (CED) and the National Archives in Lund. SEDD is funded by The Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) and partner institutions, and constitutes one of the databases in the national research infrastructure SwedPop.
Data is structured according the Intermediate Data Structure (IDS), which is an international standard for historical population databases. SEDD contains a large number of variables, which are described in the Metadata.
Variables in the SEDD database described in the Metadata (pdf)
Accessibility
Data from the Scanian Economic Demographic Database is freely available for research, subject only to legal restrictions for personal data and sensitive personal data.
Use of data for the period after 1920 requires a special application and decision in relation to GDPR and the Law of Ethics Review (Lagen om etikprövning). Requests can be made through SEDD public access.
From 2025, SEDD data will be disseminated through SwedPop platform.
Public access to the SEDD database
Data for the period 1813 to 1914 is now publicly accessible. Use of data for the period after 1914 requires special permission.
As of 2021, the database contains 175,000 unique individuals, and about 100,000 vital events and 300,000 migration events. The Scanian Economic Demographic Database is the result of project collaborations between the Centre for Economic Demography (CED) and the Regional Archives in Lund. SEDD is one of the databases in the national research infrastructure SwedPop funded by The Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) and partner institutions.
The data has been collected, digitized and developed during several decades and the work has been financed by the Lund University, the Swedish Foundation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (Riksbankens Jubileumsfond) and the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet).
Data is structured according the Intermediate Data Structure (IDS), which is an international standard for historical population databases. SEDD contains a large number of variables, which are described in the Metadata.
Example of variables:
- Births
- Deaths
- Cause of death
- Marriages
- In-migration
- Out-migration
- Birth-order
- Occupation
- Land holdings (farm size etc.)
- Type of residence (farm, croft, cottage etc.)
- Property ownership (freehold, crown, noble)
- Income
- Height
- Health at birth
- Health at mustering
- family and house-hold variables
Accessibility of the database
Data from the Scanian Economic Demographic Database is freely available for research, subject only to legal restrictions for personal data and sensitive personal data.
Use of data for the period after 1920 requires a special application and decision in relation to GDPR and the Law of Ethics Review (Lagen om etikprövning).
From 2025, SEDD data will be disseminated through SwedPop platform.
Public access to the SEDD database
Data from the Scanian Economic Demographic Database is freely available for research.
Different versions of the data are numbered (version 2.0 etc) and reference should be made to the version used. Data younger than 100 years are subject to legal restrictions and require a special application and vetting process. In order for us to report on the use of the data we need basic information on users and purposes.
%20sedd [at] ed [dot] lu [dot] se (Request to access data from the SEDD database by sending an e-mail request)
The request should contain your name, title, affiliation and a short abstract describing for what you intend to use the data (c. 50-100 words).
In return you will receive the full dataset in text-format, the variable list, and some general information concerning the use of the data. We also provide STATA do-files to facilitate the use of the SEDD-data. The size of the zip-file is around 35 MB. Requests for the restricted data (younger than 100 years) can also be made here.
Terms and conditions for the use of the data
All use of the data should include the version-specific reference provided (e.g. Bengtsson, Tommy, Dribe, Martin, Quaranta, Luciana and Svensson, Patrick. (YEAR) The Scanian Economic Demographic Database, Version X.Y (Machine-readable database). Lund: Lund University, Centre for Economic Demography).
Public access to the SEDD database
Data for the period 1813 to 1914 is now publicly accessible. Use of data for the period after 1914 requires special permission.