The Swedish private market for ADHD and autism assessments hit 1.57 billion kronor in 2024, growing 300% over six years, but faces scrutiny over reporting gaps and safety issues, raising questions about care quality and data reliability.
Sweden’s privately financed market for ADHD and autism assessments and treatment reached 1.57 billion kronor in 2024, according to a new report from the Agency for Health and Care Services Analysis. The figure marks a 300% rise in revenue over six years, underlining how quickly private providers have expanded in a field that has become a major pressure point for families seeking faster access to care.
Sven Bölte, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatric science at Karolinska Institutet, said the growth was not surprising given the level of demand. But he warned that expansion is being matched by serious weaknesses in the way private providers report cases to the National Board of Health and Welfare’s patient register. That matters because register data are used to track illness patterns, plan services and support research.
The report suggests the gaps could cause ADHD and autism prevalence to be understated at national level, while also making it harder to assess whether care is delivered fairly and consistently. According to Bölte, comprehensive registers are essential for understanding how services are working; when large patient groups are missing, the underlying data become less reliable for both policy and scientific analysis.
Psykologtidningen reported that the agency identified 108 private providers with annual revenues above 1 million kronor, showing how broad the market has become. That growth also raises a larger question about whether the system is drifting away from the principle that Swedish healthcare should be publicly financed and based on need rather than ability to pay. Separate scrutiny by the Health and Social Care Inspectorate has added to the concern: in a review of ten private providers of neuropsychiatric care for children, it found serious shortcomings across all of them, including ADHD diagnoses made without complete evidence and medication used as a first or only measure. Together, the findings point to both a booming market and persistent concerns about oversight, safety and equality of access.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
