People born in Syria made up the largest group of Sweden's foreign-born population in 2023. Nearly 200,000 people born in Syria lived in Sweden as of 2023. Iraqi made up the second largest group of foreign-born citizens, followed by Sweden's neighboring country Finland. The total number of foreign-born citizens living in the Scandinavian country increased over the past 10 years.

Migration contributes to population growth

Sweden's positive net migration rate meant that it's population increased steadily since 2000. In 2022, over 100,000 people immigrated to Sweden, which was still significantly lower than the record year 2016.

Syrians fleeing civil war

The record number of refugees arriving in 2016 was driven by Syrians fleeing the Civil War in the country. Following the Arab spring and protests for democracy in 2011, fighting broke out between the Syrian national army and several armed factions. Several million people fled the country as a result, some of them seeking refuge in Sweden.

The majority of immigrants moving to Sweden in 2023 were Swedes returning to Sweden. Nearly 10,600 Swedes returned to their home country in 2023. The remaining top five countries of origin were India, Poland, Germany, and Syria. In total, 95,000 people immigrated to Sweden in 2023.

Syrians largest immigrant group

Of Sweden's foreign-born population, Syrians made up the largest group. Following the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, many people left the country in search of a better life in Europe, some of which landed in Sweden. In 2022, Sweden hosted the world's 7th largest group of Syrian refugees.

Immigration drives population increase in Sweden

Over the past decade, Sweden has seen a positive migration rate, with more people immigrating to the country than people leaving. This is one of the main reasons why the country's population has been increasing steadily over recent years.

Sweden immigration statistics for 2015 was 1,639,771, a 18.4% increase from 2010.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>Sweden immigration statistics for 2010 was <strong>1,384,929</strong>, a <strong>23.02% increase</strong> from 2005.</li>
<li>Sweden immigration statistics for 2005 was <strong>1,125,790</strong>, a <strong>12.15% increase</strong> from 2000.</li>
<li>Sweden immigration statistics for 2000 was <strong>1,003,798</strong>, a <strong>7.24% increase</strong> from 1995.</li>
</ul>International migrant stock is the number of people born in a country other than that in which they live. It also includes refugees. The data used to estimate the international migrant stock at a particular time are obtained mainly from population censuses. The estimates are derived from the data on foreign-born population--people who have residence in one country but were born in another country. When data on the foreign-born population are not available, data on foreign population--that is, people who are citizens of a country other than the country in which they reside--are used as estimates. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 people living in one of the newly independent countries who were born in another were classified as international migrants. Estimates of migrant stock in the newly independent states from 1990 on are based on the 1989 census of the Soviet Union. For countries with information on the international migrant stock for at least two points in time, interpolation or extrapolation was used to estimate the international migrant stock on July 1 of the reference years. For countries with only one observation, estimates for the reference years were derived using rates of change in the migrant stock in the years preceding or following the single observation available. A model was used to estimate migrants for countries that had no data.

In 2023, people from Asia formed the biggest group of foreign-born inhabitants in Sweden, with over 855,000 people. People born in the EU and the Nordic countries accounted for the second largest group of foreign-born inhabitants, reaching around 600,000 people. Looking at single countries, the largest group of Sweden's foreign-born population was born in Syria.

The number of people born outside of Sweden as a share of the Swedish population increased since 2010. That year, 1.38 million of the country's inhabitants were born outside of Sweden, whereas this number had increased to 2.17 million by 2023. In other words, foreign-born citizens made up around 20 percent of the population in Sweden in 2023. Of the 2.17 million people born outside of Sweden, the highest number came from Syria.

The number of foreign citizens as a share of the total population in Sweden increased steadily from 2010 to 2023. While 1.8 million foreign inhabitants lived in the country in 2010, the number had increased to 2.87 million in 2023. Over the same period, the number of Swedish inhabitants increased from 7.62 million to 7.69 million. Syrians made up the largest group of foreign-born citizens in the Nordic country that year.

Sweden SE: International Migrant Stock: Total data was reported at 1,639,771.000 Person in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 1,384,929.000 Person for 2010. Sweden SE: International Migrant Stock: Total data is updated yearly, averaging 721,462.500 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2015, with 12 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,639,771.000 Person in 2015 and a record low of 295,618.000 Person in 1960. Sweden SE: International Migrant Stock: Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Sweden – Table SE.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. International migrant stock is the number of people born in a country other than that in which they live. It also includes refugees. The data used to estimate the international migrant stock at a particular time are obtained mainly from population censuses. The estimates are derived from the data on foreign-born population--people who have residence in one country but were born in another country. When data on the foreign-born population are not available, data on foreign population--that is, people who are citizens of a country other than the country in which they reside--are used as estimates. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 people living in one of the newly independent countries who were born in another were classified as international migrants. Estimates of migrant stock in the newly independent states from 1990 on are based on the 1989 census of the Soviet Union. For countries with information on the international migrant stock for at least two points in time, interpolation or extrapolation was used to estimate the international migrant stock on July 1 of the reference years. For countries with only one observation, estimates for the reference years were derived using rates of change in the migrant stock in the years preceding or following the single observation available. A model was used to estimate migrants for countries that had no data.; ; United Nations Population Division, Trends in Total Migrant Stock: 2012 Revision.; Sum;

In 2022, the largest group of foreign-born citizens from European countries residing in Sweden were from the neighboring country Finland. 133,000 Fins lived in Sweden in 2022. People born in Poland made up the second largest group of foreign-born Europeans, followed by people born in the former Yugoslavia, from which many people migrated during the Yugoslavian wars in the 1990s.

Over the past 23 years, the total population of Sweden increased steadily. In 2000, there were nearly 8.9 million people living in the Scandinavian country, and this had increased to 10.55 million in 2023. The population growth is expected to continue over the next decades, and it is estimated that the population of Sweden will reach over 13 million by 2080.

Immigration drove the population growth

One main reason for the steadily increasing is the number of immigrants arriving in the country. Even though the number of immigrants fell since the peak in 2016, the population with a foreign background increased steadily over the past 10 years.

Syrians make up the largest group of foreigners

The high number of immigrants arriving in Sweden in 2016 was caused by the high number or refugees fleeing the Syrian Civil War. As of 2022, Syrians made up the largest foreign group residing in the country. Next to refugees from the Middle East, immigrants from other EU-members such as Poland and neighboring Finland constituted a high number of the foreign-born citizens living in the country.

Of the foreigners living in Sweden, people from North and Central America as well as Oceania had the highest education levels, with respectively 50 and 46 percent having a post-secondary education of three years or more. An upper secondary education was the most common education among people from other Nordic countries and European countries outside the Nordics and the European Union. Meanwhile, nearly 30 percent of people from Africa had a primary education or lower.

SE: Population: Female: Ages 45-49: % of Female Population data was reported at 6.754 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 6.825 % for 2016. SE: Population: Female: Ages 45-49: % of Female Population data is updated yearly, averaging 6.523 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7.269 % in 1994 and a record low of 5.165 % in 1981. SE: Population: Female: Ages 45-49: % of Female Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Sweden – Table SE.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Female population between the ages 45 to 49 as a percentage of the total female population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; ;

Sweden - Arrivals of residents/non-residents at tourist accommodation establishments: Foreign country was 8432588.00 in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Sweden - Arrivals of residents/non-residents at tourist accommodation establishments: Foreign country - last updated from the EUROSTAT on May of 2025. Historically, Sweden - Arrivals of residents/non-residents at tourist accommodation establishments: Foreign country reached a record high of 8432588.00 in December of 2024 and a record low of 1849790.00 in December of 2020.

SE: Population: Total: Aged 15-64 data was reported at 6,290,321.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 6,228,380.000 Person for 2016. SE: Population: Total: Aged 15-64 data is updated yearly, averaging 5,450,532.500 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6,290,321.000 Person in 2017 and a record low of 4,925,522.000 Person in 1960. SE: Population: Total: Aged 15-64 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Sweden – Table SE.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Total population between the ages 15 to 64. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.; ; World Bank staff estimates using the World Bank's total population and age/sex distributions of the United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; Sum;

SE: Population: Female: Ages 5-9: % of Female Population data was reported at 5.846 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 5.842 % for 2016. SE: Population: Female: Ages 5-9: % of Female Population data is updated yearly, averaging 6.195 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6.958 % in 1960 and a record low of 4.822 % in 2007. SE: Population: Female: Ages 5-9: % of Female Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Sweden – Table SE.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Female population between the ages 5 to 9 as a percentage of the total female population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; ;

The highest number of people emigrating from Sweden in 2023 moved to the United Kingdom, the total number amounting to 5,000. The Germany was the second most common country for emigration, while neighboring Denmark came in third. The destination country of 16,000 emigrants was unknown.

Sweden SE: Population: Growth data was reported at 1.447 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 1.256 % for 2016. Sweden SE: Population: Growth data is updated yearly, averaging 0.538 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.447 % in 2017 and a record low of 0.045 % in 1983. Sweden SE: Population: Growth data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Sweden – Table SE.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Annual population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage . Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.; ; Derived from total population. Population source: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision, (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

WorldPop produces different types of gridded population count datasets, depending on the methods used and end application. Please make sure you have read our Mapping Populations overview page before choosing and downloading a dataset.


Bespoke methods used to produce datasets for specific individual countries are available through the WorldPop Open Population Repository (WOPR) link below. These are 100m resolution gridded population estimates using customized methods ("bottom-up" and/or "top-down") developed for the latest data available from each country. They can also be visualised and explored through the woprVision App.
The remaining datasets in the links below are produced using the "top-down" method, with either the unconstrained or constrained top-down disaggregation method used. Please make sure you read the Top-down estimation modelling overview page to decide on which datasets best meet your needs. Datasets are available to download in Geotiff and ASCII XYZ format at a resolution of 3 and 30 arc-seconds (approximately 100m and 1km at the equator, respectively):

- Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 ( 1km resolution ): Consistent 1km resolution population count datasets created using unconstrained top-down methods for all countries of the World for each year 2000-2020.
- Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 ( 100m resolution ): Consistent 100m resolution population count datasets created using unconstrained top-down methods for all countries of the World for each year 2000-2020.
- Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 UN adjusted ( 100m resolution ): Consistent 100m resolution population count datasets created using unconstrained top-down methods for all countries of the World for each year 2000-2020 and adjusted to match United Nations national population estimates (UN 2019)
-Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 UN adjusted ( 1km resolution ): Consistent 1km resolution population count datasets created using unconstrained top-down methods for all countries of the World for each year 2000-2020 and adjusted to match United Nations national population estimates (UN 2019).
-Unconstrained global mosaics 2000-2020 ( 1km resolution ): Mosaiced 1km resolution versions of the "Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020" datasets.
-Constrained individual countries 2020 ( 100m resolution ): Consistent 100m resolution population count datasets created using constrained top-down methods for all countries of the World for 2020.
-Constrained individual countries 2020 UN adjusted ( 100m resolution ): Consistent 100m resolution population count datasets created using constrained top-down methods for all countries of the World for 2020 and adjusted to match United Nations national population estimates (UN 2019).

Older datasets produced for specific individual countries and continents, using a set of tailored geospatial inputs and differing "top-down" methods and time periods are still available for download here: Individual countries and Whole Continent.

Data for earlier dates is available directly from WorldPop.

WorldPop (www.worldpop.org - School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton; Department of Geography and Geosciences, University of Louisville; Departement de Geographie, Universite de Namur) and Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University (2018). Global High Resolution Population Denominators Project - Funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1134076). https://dx.doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/WP00645

This dataset contains statistics on names (first names of women, first names of men, and last names) by country of birth. In total, there are 231,505 names by 202 countries. The data comes from Statistics Sweden's population statistics (name register) and refers to persons registered in Sweden on December 31st, 2020. However, some names are excluded due to confidentiality, such as names with fewer than five carriers. The data is licensed with Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) and may be used as long as Statistics Sweden is stated as the source. In this dataset, you will also find (in addition to the original data from Statistics Sweden) tidied data where the ISO code for each country has been added, as well as data in so-called wide format and long format to facilitate easier data processing. Please see the Swedish version of the post and the README file for more information about the data.

Sweden SE: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data was reported at 11.800 Ratio in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 11.700 Ratio for 2015. Sweden SE: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 11.900 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 16.000 Ratio in 1964 and a record low of 10.000 Ratio in 1999. Sweden SE: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Sweden – Table SE.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Crude birth rate indicates the number of live births occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

Sweden SE: International Tourism: Number of Arrivals data was reported at 6,782,000.000 Person in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 6,482,000.000 Person for 2015. Sweden SE: International Tourism: Number of Arrivals data is updated yearly, averaging 4,702,500.000 Person from Dec 1995 (Median) to 2016, with 22 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6,782,000.000 Person in 2016 and a record low of 2,310,000.000 Person in 1995. Sweden SE: International Tourism: Number of Arrivals data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Sweden – Table SE.World Bank.WDI: Tourism Statistics. International inbound tourists (overnight visitors) are the number of tourists who travel to a country other than that in which they have their usual residence, but outside their usual environment, for a period not exceeding 12 months and whose main purpose in visiting is other than an activity remunerated from within the country visited. When data on number of tourists are not available, the number of visitors, which includes tourists, same-day visitors, cruise passengers, and crew members, is shown instead. Sources and collection methods for arrivals differ across countries. In some cases data are from border statistics (police, immigration, and the like) and supplemented by border surveys. In other cases data are from tourism accommodation establishments. For some countries number of arrivals is limited to arrivals by air and for others to arrivals staying in hotels. Some countries include arrivals of nationals residing abroad while others do not. Caution should thus be used in comparing arrivals across countries. The data on inbound tourists refer to the number of arrivals, not to the number of people traveling. Thus a person who makes several trips to a country during a given period is counted each time as a new arrival.; ; World Tourism Organization, Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files.; Gap-filled total;