Teletext lives on in Sweden thanks to nostalgia and trusted content

In most of the western world teletext may have disappeared, but in Sweden it’s going strong and set to celebrate its 45th anniversary

A Swedish teletext employee has attributed the popularity of the world’s longest-running service of its kind to nostalgia and an appetite for trustworthy information, as it celebrates its 45th anniversary this year.

In most of the western world, teletext has been consigned to history by the advent of the internet and smartphones. But in Sweden, despite having one of the world’s most digitalised populations, SVT Text, run by the national public broadcaster, is still going strong, attracting 15% of the Swedish population aged nine to 85 on a daily basis.