In the 20th century, urbanization and suburbanization have depopulated sparsely populated areas in Sweden. In the south, these processes are largely hidden by the growth of the centre when observed at the municipality level. In Northern Sweden, however, many sparsely populated municipalities have experienced a substantial overall population decline in recent decades. The main cause for the population loss is negative net migration. Young adults are overrepresented among the outmigrants, resulting in an aging population. This, in turn, has local economic implications, especially in light of a shrinking local tax base. The main long-term development problem for shrinking regions in Sweden is shortage of professional labor equipped for emerging tasks and sectors. The shortage of young professionals is intimately connected to the absence of a diversified local labor market for specialists giving both partners in such a couple suitable jobs concurrently. Short-and medium-term consequences for those staying in the shrinking regions should however be remedied generously. This is still a minority problem so it's relative cheap to support the victims of the prospering urban economy.