How does Kliva's Category Index work?
Category indices give you a quick, comparable picture of a property's risks within Social, Climate and Environment — plus an overall index that weighs all three together. The same calculation model is used in Sweden and Finland, but which risks are included and how they are weighted differs somewhat between the countries.
Three category indices + one overall
Each category receives an index between 0 and 100, where 0 means low impact and 100 high impact in the parts that could be assessed.
Climate – flood risks, cloudbursts, wildfires, falls/landslides/erosion, storms, extreme heat, soil moisture, energy performance certificates and more
Environment – land contamination, protected areas, water & restrictions, ancient & cultural remains, national interests and landscape values
Social factors – Kliva's social dimensions, vulnerable area, population trend
Overall index – a weighted combination of the three category indices
During a transition period, you will still see the older weighted risk index alongside the new overall index, so you can compare.
How a group's risk level is calculated
Many risks consist of several sub-rows — for example different flood scenarios under "Flood risks". Score and weight always belong to the group (or the standalone row), never to each individual sub-row. Sub-rows are only used to determine the group's risk level: low, medium or high.
This happens in one of two ways:
Max – the group gets the same level as the highest (worst) sub-row. Example: Wildfire has "Open land" (medium) and "Forest land" (high) → the group becomes high.
Weighted – each sub-row has a share within the group that sums to 100%, and the level value becomes a weighted average of the sub-rows' levels.
Standalone rows with only one sub-row take their level directly from that row.
From weight and level to score
Within each category, all groups sum to 100%. Risk levels are converted to a level value: no risk = 0, low = 1, medium = 2, high = 3.
For each group, the following then applies:
Max score = the group's weight in percent (e.g. Wildfire 12.5% → max 12.5 points within Climate)
Score = max score × level value ÷ 3 (Wildfire with high risk → 12.5 × 3 ÷ 3 = 12.5 of 12.5 possible)
Category index = (sum of scores ÷ sum of max scores for the groups included) × 100
Important: Don't compare percentages between categories. "25% flood risks" means 25% of Climate — not 25% of the property's entire risk picture.
Overall index – weights
The same distribution applies in both Sweden and Finland:
Category | Share of overall index |
Social factors | 25% |
Climate | 45% |
Environment | 30% |
Example: Climate 40, Environment 20, Social 10 → the overall index becomes approximately 26.5 (40 × 45% + 20 × 30% + 10 × 25%). If an entire category is missing, the others are recalculated proportionally.
Weights in Sweden
Climate
Group / row | Share of Climate | How the level is set |
Flood risks | 25% | Weighted (equal share), 8 sub-rows |
Cloudburst | 19% | Standalone |
Wildfire | 12.5% | Max (Open land; Forest land) |
Falls, landslides and erosion | 12.5% | Max (Stability; Stability zones; Erosion) |
Storm or strong winds | 12.5% | Standalone |
Energy performance certificate and rating | 6.5% | Standalone |
Extreme heat | 6% | Standalone |
Soil moisture | 6% | Standalone |
Environment
Group / row | Share of Environment | How the level is set |
Land contamination | 32% | Standalone |
Protected areas | 17% | Weighted (equal share), 10 sub-rows |
Water & restrictions | 17% | Weighted (equal share), 3 sub-rows |
Ancient & cultural remains | 17% | Standalone |
National interests, nature conservation and outdoor recreation | 17% | Weighted (equal share), 4 sub-rows |
Map layers that are for visualization only (and not included in the assessment) do not affect the index.
Social factors
Each row is standalone. The five Kliva dimensions together weigh 50%.
Group / row | Share of Social |
Vulnerable area | 33% |
Population trend | 17% |
Service and Proximity | 10% |
Safety and Security | 10% |
Participation and Community | 10% |
Economy and Health | 10% |
Education and Upbringing | 10% |
Weights in Finland
The same overall distribution (Social 25% / Climate 45% / Environment 30%) also applies in Finland. Finland currently has fewer layers, so the weights within Climate, Environment and Social are redistributed across the layers that actually exist.
Climate
Group / row | Share of Climate | How the level is set |
Flood risks | 33% | Weighted (equal share), 6 sub-rows |
Cloudburst | 25% | Max (52 mm/h; 80 mm/h) |
Wildfire | 17% | Standalone |
Erosion | 17% | Standalone |
Extreme heat | 8% | Standalone |
Environment
Group / row | Share of Environment | How the level is set |
Protected areas | 33% | Weighted (equal share), 6 sub-rows |
Water & restrictions | 33% | Weighted (equal share), 2 sub-rows |
Ancient & cultural remains | 34% | Standalone |
Social factors
In Finland, only four of the Kliva dimensions are currently included, 25% each. Vulnerable area and population trend lack Finnish layers and are therefore not included in the Finnish weights.
What happens if data is missing?
If data is missing for a sub-row, it is not counted. If all sub-rows in a group are missing, the entire group is excluded — not treated as "no risk". The category index is then recalculated based on the groups that actually have an assessment, so that missing information doesn't "pretend" to be green.
The weights are transparent: the same figures are used in the help text and in the calculation, and they may be adjusted over time.
FAQ - Category Index
In this section, we've gathered common questions about the category index, with simple answers to help you understand how the numbers fit together.
Do the sub-rows get their own scores?
No. They only affect the group's risk level via max or weighting — the score is always calculated for the group.
What does "max" mean in practice?
The worst assessed sub-row determines the group's level.
What does "weighted" mean?
The sub-rows have shares within the group, and the level value becomes a weighted average of them — unlike max, where only the worst level counts.
Is 50 in Climate the same as 50 in Social?
No. Each category has its own 100-point scale. The overall index weighs them together, with Climate currently weighted the heaviest.
Are the indices comparable between Sweden and Finland?
The formula and the overall distribution (25/45/30) are the same. Within Climate, Environment and Social, both the groups and their shares differ between the countries, so it's best to compare within the same country.