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.

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.

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.

Until 2016, Sweden had among the most generous asylum laws within the European Union. As a result, the immigration increased for several years, reaching 163,000 immigrants in 2016. During 2016, Sweden sharpened their asylum laws, and the number of immigrants started to decline. In 2020, also as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of immigrants in Sweden fell to 82,500, before increasing slightly again in 2021 and 2022. Over the last years, there was also a decline in the number of asylum grants in Sweden.

Large inflow of refugees

The so-called refugee crisis in the European Union that started in 2015 was characterized by a large inflow of refugees from non-European countries, mainly traversing the Mediterranean Sea in order to reach the European Union. In regards to the immigration trends to Sweden, one of the biggest groups in the last years consisted of Swedes returning to Sweden. Further countries that were among the top countries of origin in the latest years, were India, Syria, Germany, and Poland.

Decline in asylum grants in the European Union

Sweden is not the only country that sharpened the rules for asylum grants in 2016, it has been observed within the whole European Union. Since the end of 2016, there has been a significant decline in the number of accepted first instance asylum applications within the European Union.

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.

By far, Syrians made up the largest group of refugees living in Sweden in 2022, counting 111,000 people. Ukrainians, who made up the second largest group, counted just below 47,000. Meanwhile, Afghans made up the third largest group with 26,000 refugees. The total number of refugees living in Sweden increased over the past ten years.

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.

This dataset contains information from the fifth survey of the collection of Swedish opinion surveys. The 1983 survey was carried out in a somewhat different way than the previous surveys. Three questionnaires were used, each containing approximately 275 questions. 104 questions were put in all three questionnaires, and in all there were 538 different questions. Each questionnaire was answered by approximately 900 persons. The questionnaires were compiled with regard to the debate occurring in media during the last quarter of 1982 and the first of 1983. Many of the questions are replications of questions asked in previous surveys, some of the questions are excluded and a number of questions are added. New questions dealt with: reasons for not wanting more children; own and parents country of origin, citizenship and thoughts of emigration; right to vote for immigrants, and Swedes living abroad; adoption; moral, ability and behaviour within a number of occupational groups; groups favoured/unfavoured in the wage negotiations; issues important for the unity within the bourgeoise parties; opinion on how the government succeeded in carrying out their electoral promises and how they are dealing with other problems; opinion on a number of political goals; reasons why social democrats and the bourgeoise parties can´t cooperate; conception of justice; tobacco, alcohol and drugs.

Over the past 10 years, the number of people with an immigrant background living in Norway increased. Whereas nearly 1.1 million people with an immigrant background lived in Norway in 2014, this number had increased to nearly 1.5 million as of 2024. Of these, first generation immigrants was, by far, the largest group, counting 930,000 people. The second largest group was people born in Norway with one parent born abroad, followed by inhabitants born in Norway with two parents born abroad. Immigration to the Nordics Norway is not the only Nordic country with increasing immigration. Immigration has increased in each Nordic country from 2000 and onwards, with Sweden leading immigration until being taken over by Denmark in 2022. Sweden has taken in a comparatively high number of refugees, but most immigrants to the Nordics are from other European countries, such as in Finland. Population challenges in the Nordics Over time, the fertility rate has declined in each Nordic country, and as of 2022, Iceland had the highest fertility rate in the region with only 1.6 children born per woman. Moreover, those aged 70 and older are increasingly making up larger portions of Nordic societies. These factors combined can create challenges as there are less workers available, making immigration an important factor in the Nordic labor markets.

The vast majority of the 2,626 Icelandic citizens who emigrated in 2022 moved to one of the three Scandinavian countries Denmark, Sweden, or Norway. The highest number of these emigrated to Denmark. The fourth most common destination country was the United States. Considering emigration among both Icelandic and foreign citizens, the highest number emigrated to Poland.

In 2024, Turkey was the country that hosted the highest amount of Syrian refugees, amounting up to 3.1 million refugees. Lebanon was second, hosting 775,000 Syrian refugees. The data refers to the total number of Syrian refugees in a given country, not considering the date of their application for asylum or the date of their flight.

The number of people with Russian citizenship living in European countries as of January 1, 2023, was by far the highest in Germany. The country's population includes around 260,000 Russian citizens. That was more than double the number of Russian citizens living in Spain. To compare, over 35,400 Russian nationals resided in Czechia.