Demographics of Sweden

The total resident population of Sweden was 10,377,781 in October 2020.[1] The population exceeded 10 million for the first time on Friday, 20 January 2017.[2][3] The three largest cities are Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. Sweden's population has become much more ethnically, religiously and linguistically diverse over the past 70 years as a result of immigration. Every fourth (24.9%) resident in the country has a foreign background and every third (32.3%) has at least one parent born abroad. The most common foreign ancestry is Finnish.[4]

Swedes celebrating Midsummer (Swedish: Midsommar)

Population statistics

The birth and death rates in Sweden 1950–2008.
Population pyramid in 2019
Population density in the counties of Sweden.
people/km²
  0–9.9
  10–24.9
  25–49.9
  50–99.9
  100–199.9
  200+

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review.[5]

  • One birth every 4 minutes
  • One death every 6 minutes
  • Net gain of one person every 8 minutes
  • One net migrant every 14 minutes

Demographic statistics according to the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.[6]

Population
10,202,491 (July 2020 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years: 17.54% (male 904,957 /female 855,946)
15-24 years: 11.06% (male 573,595 /female 537,358)
25-54 years: 39.37% (male 2,005,422 /female 1,947,245)
55-64 years: 11.67% (male 588,314 /female 583,002)
65 years and over: 20.37% (male 946,170 /female 1,098,986) (2018 est.)
0-14 years: 17.43% (male 892,462/female 843,375)
15-24 years: 11.31% (male 581,025/female 545,971)
25-54 years: 39.42% (male 1,993,590/female 1,933,080)
55-64 years: 11.58% (male 578,942/female 574,479)
65 years and over: 20.26% (male 931,593/female 1,085,970) (2017 est.)
Median age
total: 41.1 years. Country comparison to the world: 45th
male: 40.1 years
female: 42.2 years (2018 est.)
total: 41.2 years
male: 40.2 years
female: 42.2 years (2017 est.)
Birth rate
12.1 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 164th
11.78 births/1,000 population (2013 est.)
Death rate
9.4 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 52nd
9.37 deaths/1,000 population (2013 est.)
Total fertility rate
1.87 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 141st
Net migration rate
5.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 23rd
6.75 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2013 est.)
Population growth rate
0.8% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 129th
0.81% (2017 est.)
0.93% (2013 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth
29.1 years (2015 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 82.1 years Country comparison to the world: 16th
male: 80.2 years
female: 84.2 years (2017 est.)
Net birth surplus rate
2.40 births/1,000 population (2013 est.)
Infant mortality rate
total: 2.6 deaths/1,000 live births Country comparison to the world: 218th
male: 2.9 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 2.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2017 est.)
2.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2010 est.)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio: 58.5
youth dependency ratio: 27.4
elderly dependency ratio: 31.1
potential support ratio: 3.2 (2015 est.)
Unemployment, youth ages 15–24
total: 17.9%. Country comparison to the world: 72nd
male: 18.8%
female: 17% (2017 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
total: 19 years
male: 18 years
female: 20 years (2016)
Urbanisation
88% of total population (2020 est.)
Rate of urbanisation: 1.05% annual rate of change (2015–20 est.)

Population change

The demography of Sweden is monitored by Statistics Sweden (SCB).

The 2005 Swedish census showed an increase of 475,322 compared to the 1990 census, an average increase of 31,680 annually. During the 1990s, birth rate increased by more than 100,000 children per year while death rates fell and immigration surged. In the early 2000s, birth rate declined as immigration increased further, with the context of unrest in the Middle East, upholding steady population growth.[7][8]

Historical populations
YearPop.±%
1570 900,000    
1650 1,225,000+36.1%
1700 1,485,000+21.2%
1750 1,780,700+19.9%
1800 2,347,300+31.8%
1850 3,482,500+48.4%
1900 5,136,400+47.5%
1950 7,041,900+37.1%
1970 8,081,300+14.8%
1980 8,318,000+2.9%
1990 8,590,600+3.3%
2000 8,882,800+3.4%
2010 9,415,600+6.0%
2019 10,327,600+9.7%
Source: Historical figures – Sveriges land och folk,[9] Modern figures – Statistics Sweden As of:[10] Dec. 2019[1]

Population projections

Born in 1953, a report on the longitudinal study Project Metropolitan

In 1950 Sweden had fewer people aged 10–20 with more people ages 20–30 and 0–10. In 2017 the ratio of male to female remains steady at about 50–50. As a whole, the graph broadens with people appearing to live longer. In 2050 it is predicted that all ages will increase from below 300,000 males and females to above 300,000 males and females. With about 50,000 people living to the ages of 90–100. In 2100 the graph is shaped as a rectangle with people of all ages and genders remaining steady. It narrows slightly at the top of the graph with about 250,000/300,000 males and females living to be 90–100 years old.[11] Statistics Sweden projects the following population development in Sweden:[12]

Year Projection
20169,995,000
202010,431,000
202611,046,000
203011,344,000
204011,898,000
205012,395,000
206012,858,000

Eurostat projects a population in Sweden reaching 11,994,364 people in 2040 and 14,388,478 in 2080.[13]

Geography and population density

The population density is just over 25 people per km2 (65 per square mile), with 1 437 persons per km2 in localities (continuous settlement with at least 200 inhabitants).[14],[15] 87% of the population live in urban areas, which cover 1.5% of the entire land area.[16] 63% of Swedes are in large urban areas.[16] The population density is substantially higher in the south than in the north. The capital city Stockholm has a municipal population of about 950,000 (with 1.5 million in the urban area and 2.3 million in the metropolitan area). The second- and third-largest cities are Gothenburg and Malmö. Greater Gothenburg counts just over a million inhabitants and the same goes for the western part of Scania, along the Öresund. The Öresund Region, the Danish-Swedish cross-border region around the Öresund that Malmö is part of, has a population of 4 million. Outside of major cities, areas with notably higher population density include the agricultural part of Östergötland, the western coast, the area around Lake Mälaren and the agricultural area around Uppsala.

Norrland, which covers approximately 60% of the Swedish territory, has a very low population density (below 5 people per square kilometer). The mountains and most of the remote coastal areas are almost unpopulated. Low population density exists also in large parts of western Svealand, as well as southern and central Småland. An area known as Finnveden, which is located in the south-west of Småland, and mainly below the 57th parallel, can also be considered as almost empty of people.

Ethnicity

The majority of the population are ethnic Swedes, or people who can trace most of their ethnicity to Sweden going back at least 12 generations. The Sweden Finns are a large ethnic minority comprising approximately 50,000 along the Swedish-Finnish border, and 450,000 first and second-generation immigrated ethnic Finns, mainly living in the Mälaren Valley region. Meänkieli Finnish has official status in parts of northern Sweden near the Finnish border. In addition, Sweden's indigenous population groups include the Sami people, who have a history of practicing hunting and gathering and gradually adopting a largely semi-nomadic reindeer herding lifestyle. They have been present in Fenno-Scandinavia from at earliest 5000 years [17] to at latest around 2650 years.[18] Today, the Sami language holds the status of official minority language in the Norrbotten, Västerbotten and Jämtland counties.

In addition to the Sami, Tornedalers, and Sweden Finns, Jewish and Roma people have national minority status in Sweden.[19]

There are no official statistics on ethnicity, but according to Statistics Sweden, around two million (19.6%) inhabitants in Sweden are born in another country. Of those, more than half are Swedish citizens. [20] The most common countries of origin were Syria (1.82%), Finland (1.45%), Iraq (1.41%), Poland (0.91%), Iran (0.76%) and Somalia (0.67%).[21] The average age in Sweden is 41.1 years.[22]

Historical fertility rates from 1630 to 1900

The total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman. It is based on fairly good data for the entire period. Sources: Our World In Data and Gapminder Foundation.[23]

Years163016321634163616381640164216441646164816501652165416561658[23]
Total fertility rate in Sweden4.814.253.894.384.44.924.384.254.955.44.344.545.334.724.58
Years166016621664166616681670167216741676167816801682168416861688[23]
Total fertility rate in Sweden4.24.545.014.984.65.135.014.384.284.354.645.45.254.845.29
Years169016921694169616981700170217041706170817101712171417161718[23]
Total fertility rate in Sweden4.995.114.985.335.115.565.815.525.165.324.35.635.814.925.13
Years172017221724172617281730173217341736173817401742174417461748[23]
Total fertility rate in Sweden4.625.095.024.754.234.774.864.774.514.964.524.355.024.854.86
Years175017521754175617581760176217641766176817701772177417761778[23]
Total fertility rate in Sweden5.095.295.45.234.685.064.984.924.794.774.684.14.894.674.94
Years17801782178417861788179017921794179617981800[23]
Total fertility rate in Sweden5.064.544.474.674.814.335.194.794.924.794.07
Years1801180218031804180518061807180818091810[23]
Total fertility rate in Sweden4.264.54.454.524.54.364.424.313.784.67
Estimated birth rate (blue) and death rate in Sweden for the period of 1735 to 2000. The graph indicates strong population growth for the period of 1800 to 1970, and a beginning population decline from the 1980s.
Years1811181218131814181518161817181818191820[23]
Total fertility rate in Sweden5.014.764.224.424.935.014.744.84.684.68
Years1821182218231824182518261827182818291830[23]
Total fertility rate in Sweden5.035.095.224.95.184.944.444.774.944.67
Years1831183218331834183518361837183818391840[23]
Total fertility rate in Sweden4.324.384.844.784.634.524.374.174.184.46
Years1841184218431844184518461847184818491850[23]
Total fertility rate in Sweden4.34.494.364.564.464.254.24.34.664.45
A Swedish family with their five children in 1898
Years1851185218531854185518561857185818591860[23]
Total fertility rate in Sweden4.364.24.264.534.34.234.364.664.714.71
Years1861186218631864186518661867186818691870[23]
Total fertility rate in Sweden4.444.594.654.694.584.684.43.934.034.11
Years1871187218731874187518761877187818791880[23]
Total fertility rate in Sweden4.374.344.494.544.64.574.624.444.564.36
Years1881188218831884188518861887188818891890[23]
Total fertility rate in Sweden4.294.324.244.44.344.394.364.244.14.15
Years1891189218931894189518961897189818991900[23]
Total fertility rate in Sweden4.143.933.973.944.013.983.923.993.94

Vital statistics since 1900

Data according to Statistics Sweden, which collects the official statistics for Sweden.[24]

Average
population
Live births Deaths Natural change Crude birth rate (per 1000) Crude death rate (per 1000) Natural change (per 1000) Total fertility rates[fn 1]
1900 5,117,000 138,139 86,146 51,993 27.0 16.8 10.2 4.02
1901 5,156,000 139,370 82,772 56,598 27.0 16.1 11.0 4.04
1902 5,187,000 137,364 79,722 57,642 26.5 15.4 11.1 3.95
1903 5,210,000 133,896 78,610 55,286 25.7 15.1 10.6 3.82
1904 5,241,000 134,952 80,152 54,800 25.7 15.3 10.5 3.83
1905 5,278,000 135,409 82,443 52,966 25.7 15.6 10.0 3.83
1906 5,316,000 136,620 76,366 60,254 25.7 14.4 11.3 3.81
1907 5,357,000 136,793 78,149 58,644 25.5 14.6 10.9 3.77
1908 5,404,000 138,874 80,568 58,306 25.7 14.9 10.8 3.79
1909 5,453,000 139,505 74,538 64,967 25.6 13.7 11.9 3.71
1910 5,499,000 135,625 77,212 58,413 24.7 14.0 10.6 3.60
1911 5,542,000 132,977 76,462 56,515 24.0 13.8 10.2 3.49
1912 5,583,000 132,868 79,241 53,627 23.8 14.2 9.6 3.44
1913 5,621,000 130,200 76,724 53,476 23.2 13.6 9.5 3.32
1914 5,659,000 129,458 78,311 51,147 22.9 13.8 9.0 3.29
1915 5,696,000 122,997 83,587 39,410 21.6 14.7 6.9 3.06
1916 5,735,000 121,679 77,771 43,908 21.2 13.6 7.7 2.99
1917 5,779,000 120,855 77,385 43,470 20.9 13.4 7.5 2.93
1918 5,807,000 117,955 104,594 13,361 20.3 18.0 2.3 2.83
1919 5,830,000 115,193 84,289 30,904 19.8 14.5 5.3 2.72
1920 5,876,000 138,753 78,128 60,625 23.6 13.3 10.3 3.22
1921 5,929,000 127,723 73,536 54,187 21.5 12.4 9.1 2.93
1922 5,971,000 116,946 76,343 40,603 19.6 12.8 6.8 2.66
1923 5,997,000 113,435 68,424 45,011 18.9 11.4 7.5 2.55
1924 6,021,000 109,055 72,001 37,054 18.1 12.0 6.2 2.43
1925 6,045,000 106,292 70,918 35,374 17.6 11.7 5.9 2.34
1926 6,064,000 102,007 71,344 30,663 16.8 11.8 5.1 2.22
1927 6,081,000 97,994 77,219 20,775 16.1 12.7 3.4 2.11
1928 6,097,000 97,868 73,267 24,601 16.1 12.0 4.0 2.08
1929 6,113,000 92,861 74,538 18,323 15.2 12.2 3.0 1.95
1930 6,131,000 94,220 71,790 22,430 15.4 11.7 3.7 1.96
1931 6,152,000 91,074 77,121 13,953 14.8 12.5 2.3 1.88
1932 6,176,000 89,779 71,459 18,320 14.5 11.6 3.0 1.83
1933 6,201,000 85,020 69,607 15,413 13.7 11.2 2.5 1.72
1934 6,222,000 85,092 69,921 15,171 13.7 11.2 2.4 1.67
1935 6,242,000 85,906 72,813 13,093 13.8 11.7 2.1 1.70
1936 6,259,000 88,938 74,836 14,102 14.2 12.0 2.3 1.75
1937 6,276,000 90,373 75,392 14,981 14.4 12.0 2.4 1.77
1938 6,297,000 93,946 72,693 21,253 14.9 11.5 3.4 1.84
1939 6,326,000 97,380 72,876 24,504 15.4 11.5 3.9 1.90
1940 6,356,000 95,778 72,748 23,030 15.1 11.4 3.6 1.86
1941 6,389,000 99,727 71,910 27,817 15.6 11.3 4.4 1.92
1942 6,432,000 113,961 63,741 50,220 17.7 9.9 7.8 2.19
1943 6,491,000 125,392 66,105 59,287 19.3 10.2 9.1 2.41
1944 6,560,000 134,991 72,284 62,707 20.6 11.0 9.6 2.61
1945 6,636,000 135,373 71,901 63,472 20.4 10.8 9.6 2.63
1946 6,719,000 132,597 70,635 61,962 19.7 10.5 9.2 2.57
1947 6,803,000 128,779 73,579 55,200 18.9 10.8 8.1 2.50
1948 6,883,000 126,683 67,693 58,990 18.4 9.8 8.6 2.47
1949 6,956,000 121,272 69,537 51,735 17.4 10.0 7.4 2.39
1950 7,014,000 115,414 70,296 45,118 16.5 10.0 6.4 2.28
1951 7,073,000 110,168 69,799 40,369 15.6 9.9 5.7 2.20
1952 7,125,000 110,192 68,270 41,922 15.5 9.6 5.9 2.22
1953 7,171,000 110,144 69,553 40,591 15.4 9.7 5.7 2.25
1954 7,213,000 105,096 69,030 36,066 14.6 9.6 5.0 2.18
1955 7,262,000 107,305 68,634 38,671 14.8 9.5 5.3 2.25
1956 7,315,000 107,960 70,205 37,755 14.8 9.6 5.2 2.29
1957 7,364,000 107,168 73,132 34,036 14.6 9.9 4.6 2.29
1958 7,409,000 105,502 71,065 34,437 14.2 9.6 4.6 2.26
1959 7,446,000 104,743 70,889 33,854 14.1 9.5 4.5 2.29
1960 7,480,000 102,219 75,093 27,126 13.7 10.0 3.6 2.17
1961 7,520,000 104,501 73,555 30,946 13.9 9.8 4.1 2.21
1962 7,562,000 107,284 76,791 30,493 14.2 10.2 4.0 2.25
1963 7,604,000 112,903 76,460 36,443 14.8 10.1 4.8 2.33
1964 7,661,000 122,664 76,661 46,003 16.0 10.0 6.0 2.47
1965 7,734,000 122,806 78,194 44,612 15.9 10.1 5.8 2.39
1966 7,808,000 123,354 78,440 44,914 15.8 10.0 5.8 2.37
1967 7,868,000 121,360 79,783 41,577 15.4 10.1 5.3 2.28
1968 7,914,000 113,087 82,476 30,611 14.3 10.4 3.9 2.07
1969 7,968,000 107,622 83,352 24,270 13.5 10.5 3.0 1.94
1970 8,043,000 110,150 80,026 30,124 13.7 9.9 3.7 1.94
1971 8,098,000 114,484 82,717 31,767 14.1 10.2 3.9 1.98
1972 8,122,000 112,273 84,051 28,222 13.8 10.3 3.5 1.93
1973 8,137,000 109,663 85,640 24,023 13.5 10.5 3.0 1.88
1974 8,161,000 109,874 86,316 23,558 13.5 10.6 2.9 1.91
1975 8,193,000 103,632 88,208 15,424 12.6 10.8 1.9 1.78
1976 8,222,000 98,345 90,677 7,668 12.0 11.0 0.9 1.70
1977 8,252,000 96,057 88,202 7,855 11.6 10.7 1.0 1.64
1978 8,276,000 93,248 89,681 3,567 11.3 10.8 0.4 1.61
1979 8,294,000 96,255 91,074 5,181 11.6 11.0 0.6 1.66
1980 8,310,000 97,064 91,800 5,264 11.7 11.0 0.6 1.69
1981 8,320,000 94,065 92,034 2,031 11.3 11.1 0.2 1.63
1982 8,325,000 92,748 90,671 2,077 11.1 10.9 0.2 1.60
1983 8,329,000 91,780 90,791 989 11.0 10.9 0.1 1.61
1984 8,337,000 93,889 90,483 3,406 11.3 10.9 0.4 1.66
1985 8,350,000 98,463 94,032 4,431 11.8 11.3 0.5 1.74
1986 8,370,000 101,950 93,295 8,655 12.2 11.1 1.0 1.79
1987 8,398,000 104,699 93,307 11,392 12.5 11.1 1.4 1.84
1988 8,437,000 112,080 96,743 15,337 13.3 11.5 1.8 1.96
1989 8,493,000 116,023 92,110 23,913 13.7 10.8 2.8 2.02
1990 8,559,000 123,938 95,161 28,777 14.5 11.1 3.4 2.14
1991 8,617,000 123,737 95,202 28,535 14.4 11.0 3.3 2.12
1992 8,668,000 122,848 94,710 28,138 14.2 10.9 3.2 2.09
1993 8,719,000 117,998 97,008 20,990 13.5 11.1 2.4 2.00
1994 8,781,000 112,257 91,844 20,413 12.8 10.5 2.3 1.90
1995 8,831,000 103,326 96,910 6,416 11.7 11.0 0.7 1.74
1996 8,843,000 95,297 94,133 1,164 10.8 10.6 0.1 1.61
1997 8,846,000 89,171 92,674 -3,503 10.1 10.5 -0.4 1.52
1998 8,851,000 88,384 92,891 -4,507 10.0 10.5 -0.5 1.51
1999 8,858,000 88,173 94,726 -6,553 10.0 10.7 -0.7 1.50
2000 8,872,000 90,441 93,285 -2,844 10.2 10.5 -0.3 1.54
2001 8,896,000 91,466 93,752 -2,286 10.3 10.5 -0.3 1.57
2002 8,925,000 95,815 95,009 806 10.7 10.6 0.1 1.65
2003 8,958,000 99,157 92,961 6,196 11.1 10.4 0.7 1.71
2004 8,994,000 100,928 90,532 10,396 11.2 10.1 1.2 1.75
2005 9,030,000 101,346 91,710 9,636 11.2 10.2 1.1 1.77
2006 9,081,000 105,913 91,177 14,736 11.7 10.0 1.6 1.85
2007 9,148,000 107,421 91,729 15,692 11.7 10.0 1.7 1.88
2008 9,220,000 109,301 91,449 17,852 11.9 9.9 1.9 1.91
2009 9,299,000 111,801 90,080 21,721 12.0 9.7 2.3 1.94
2010 9,378,000 115,641 90,487 25,154 12.3 9.6 2.7 1.98
2011 9,449,000 111,770 89,938 21,832 11.8 9.5 2.3 1.90
2012 9,519,000 113,177 91,938 21,239 11.9 9.7 2.2 1.91
2013 9,644,000 113,593 90,402 23,191 11.8 9.4 2.4 1.89
2014 9,747,000 114,907 88,976 25,931 11.9 9.2 2.7 1.88
2015 9,851,000 114,870 90,907 23,963 11.7 9.3 2.4 1.85
2016 9,995,000 117,425 90,982 26,443 11.8 9.2 2.6 1.85
2017 10,120,000 115,416 91,972 23,444 11.4 9.1 2.3 1.78
2018 10,230,000 115,832 92,185 23,647 11.3 9.0 2.3 1.75
2019 10,327,000 114,523 88,766 25,757 11.1 8.7 2.4 1.70
2020 10,378,000 98,081 9.5

Current vital statistics

[25]

Number of births :

  • from January-November 2019 = 106,447
  • from January-November 2020 = 105,034

Number of deaths :

  • from January-November 2019 = 80,608
  • from January-November 2020 = 87,864

Natural increase :

  • from January-November 2019 = 25,839
  • from January-November 2020 = 17,170

Life expectancy from 1751 to 2015

Sources: Our World In Data and the United Nations.

1751–1949

Years 1751 1754 1756 1768 1776 1781 1789 1795 1810 1818 1824 1837 1847 1855 1861[26]
Life expectancy in Sweden 38.4 37.4 36.2 35.0 41.5 37.8 31.2 36.5 31.9 40.0 44.9 39.6 40.1 43.0 47.1
Years 1868 1872 1878 1884 1890 1896 1905 1911 1913 1916 1922 1929 1935 1943 1949[26]
Life expectancy in Sweden 43.2 50.0 47.6 49.1 50.4 53.4 54.5 58.0 58.7 58.2 61.0 62.3 64.9 68.7 70.8

1950–2015

Period Life expectancy in
Years
Period Life expectancy in
Years
1950–1955 71.9 1985–1990 77.2
1955–1960 72.9 1990–1995 78.2
1960–1965 73.5 1995–2000 79.3
1965–1970 74.1 2000–2005 80.1
1970–1975 74.8 2005–2010 81.1
1975–1980 75.4 2010–2015 81.9
1980–1985 76.4

Source: UN World Population Prospects[27]

Migration

Prior to World War II, emigrants generally outnumbered immigrants. Since then, net migration has been positive with many immigrants coming to Sweden from the 1970s through today.

Emigration

Between 1820 and 1930, approximately 1.3 million Swedes, a third of the country's population at the time, emigrated to North America, and most of them to the United States. There are more than 4.4 million Swedish Americans according to a 2006 US Census Bureau estimate.[28] In Canada, the community of Swedish ancestry is 330,000 strong.[29]

Immigration

Increases (1984–2014) of asylum in Sweden by origin
  Serbia and Montenegro: 118 669
  Iraq: 98 211
  Syria: 65 616
  Bosnia-Herzegovina: 58 166
  Somalia: 55 123
  Iran: 50 571
  Other countries: 134 479
  Unknown: 43 350
Data source (Swedish government).

The demographic profile of Sweden has altered considerably due to immigration patterns since the 1970s. As of 2017, Statistics Sweden reported that around 2,439,007 or 24.1% of the inhabitants of Sweden were from a foreign background: that is, each such person either had been born abroad or had been born in Sweden to two parents who themselves had both been born abroad.[30] Also taking into account people with only one parent born abroad, this number increases to almost a third in 2017.[31]

Additionally, the birth rate among immigrant women after arriving in Sweden is somewhat higher than among ethnic Swedes.[32] Taking into account the fact that immigrant women have on average fewer children than Swedish women of comparable age, however, the difference in total birth rate is only 0.1 children more if the woman is foreign born – with the disclaimer that some women may have children not immigrating to and not reported in Sweden, who are thus not included in the statistics.[33]

Historical immigration

World War II

Immigration increased markedly with World War II. Historically, the most numerous of foreign born nationalities are ethnic Germans from Germany and other Scandinavians from Denmark and Norway. In short order, 70,000 war children were evacuated from Finland, of which 15,000 remained in Sweden. Also, many of Denmark's nearly 7,000 Jews who were evacuated to Sweden decided to remain there.

A sizable community from the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) arrived during the Second World War.[34]

1945 to 1967

During the 1950s and 1960s, the recruitment of immigrant labour was an important factor of immigration. The Nordic countries signed a trade agreement in 1952, establishing a common labour market and free movement across borders. This migration within the Nordic countries, especially from Finland to Scandinavia, was essential to create the tax-base required for the expansion of the strong public sector now characteristic of Scandinavia. This continued until 1967, when the labour market became saturated, and Sweden introduced new immigration controls.

On a smaller scale, Sweden took in political refugees from Hungary and the former Czechoslovakia after their countries were invaded by the Soviet Union in 1956 and 1968, respectively.

Contemporary immigration

Since the early 1970s, immigration to Sweden has been mostly due to refugee migration and family reunification from countries in the Middle East and Latin America.[35] According to Eurostat, in 2010, there were 1.33 million foreign-born residents in Sweden, corresponding to 14.3% of the total population. Of these, 859,000 (64.3%) were born outside the EU and 477,000 (35.7%) were born in another EU Member State.[36][37] By comparison, the Swedish civil registry reports, for 2018, that nearly 1.96 million residents are foreign-born, a 47% increase from 2010. There are 8.27 million Swedish-born residents, giving a total population of 10.23 million, and a 19.1% foreign-born population.[38]


The first group of Assyrians/Syriacs moved to Sweden from Lebanon in 1967. Many of them live in Södertälje (Stockholm).[39][40] There are also around 40,000 Roma in Sweden.[41] Some Roma people have long historical roots in Sweden, while others are more recent migrants from elsewhere in Europe.

Immigrants from Western Asia have been a rapidly growing share of Sweden's population. According to the government agency Statistics Sweden, the number of immigrants born in all of Asia (including the Middle East) rose from just 1,000 in 1950 to 295,000 in 2003.[42] Most of those immigrants came from Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and Syria, according to Statistics Sweden.[42]

Immigration of Iraqis increased dramatically during the Iraq War, beginning in 2003. A total of 8,951 Iraqis came to Sweden in 2006, accounting for 45% of the entire Iraqi migration to Europe. By 2007, the community of Iraqis in Sweden numbered above 70,000. In 2008, Sweden introduced tighter rules on asylum seekers.[43]

A significant number of Syrian Christians have also settled in Sweden. There have also been immigrants from South-Central Asia such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. Since the European migrant crisis, Syrians became the second-largest group of foreign-born persons in the Swedish civil registry in 2017 with 158,443 people (after former Yugoslavia).

Note that the table below lists the citizenship the person had when arriving in Sweden, and therefore there are no registered Eritreans, Russians or Bosnians from 1990, they were recorded as Ethiopians, Soviets and Yugoslavs. The nationality of Yugoslavs below is therefore people who came to Sweden from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia before 1991 and people who came from today's Montenegro and Serbia before 2003, then called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Counting all people who came from Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, there were 176,033 people from there in 2018.

42 countries with over 10,000 foreign-born persons.[44]
Country19001930196019902000201020182019
Syria 6 5,874 14,162 20,758 185,991 191,530
Iraq 16 9,818 49,372 121,761 144,035 146,048
Finland 6,644 9,746 101,307 217,636 195,447 169,521 147,883 144,561
Poland 1,065 6,347 35,631 40,123 70,253 92,759 93,722
Iran 2 8 115 40,084 51,101 62,120 77,386 80,136
Somalia 1,441 13,082 37,846 68,678 70,173
former Yugoslavia 19 1,532 43,346 71,972 70,819 65,124 64,349
Bosnia and Herzegovina 51,526 56,183 59,395 60,012
Afghanistan 17 534 4,287 14,420 51,979 58,780
Turkey 15 22 202 25,528 31,894 42,527 49,948 51,689
Germany 5,107 8,566 37,580 37,558 38,155 48,158 51,140 51,436
Eritrea 3,054 10,301 42,300 45,734
Thailand 20 4,934 10,353 31,378 42,394 43,556
Norway 7,978 14,731 37,253 52,744 42,464 43,480 41,747 41,578
India 45 135 361 9,054 11,110 17,863 35,288 40,641
Denmark 6,872 8,726 35,112 43,931 38,190 45,548 40,011 39,457
China (not including Hong Kong) 34 201 520 3,896 8,150 23,998 33,288 35,282
Romania 3 34 719 8,785 11,776 19,741 31,040 32,294
United Kingdom 779 1,270 2,738 11,378 14,602 20,839 28,976 29,979
Lebanon 15 15,986 20,038 24,116 28,119 28,508
Chile 6 28 69 27,635 26,842 28,387 27,995 28,025
United States 5,130 8,852 10,874 13,001 14,413 17,179 21,943 22,802
Russia 1,506 6,523 15,511 21,615 22,265
Ethiopia 5 59 10,027 11,907 13,822 20,695 21,686
Vietnam 1 6,265 10,898 14,584 19,741 20,676
Greece 5 22 266 13,171 10,851 11,381 18,917 19,547
Pakistan 11 2,291 3,100 10,265 16,185 19,107
Hungary 50 108 8,544 15,045 14,127 15,339 16,799 16,728
Lithuania 149 233 785 6,735 14,732 15,596
Philippines 5 2,613 5,460 9,826 14,509 15,281
Serbia 5,324 13,856 15,022
Italy 6,337 7,804 13,192 13,741
Colombia 7,317 10,531 12,575 12,865
Spain 5,079 6,763 12,268 12,688
Netherlands 4,532 8,700 12,095 12,470
Croatia 5,229 6,277 11,163 11,844
South Korea 9,170 10,398 11,353 11,642
France 5,602 7,944 11,159 11,537
Morocco 4,492 7,391 11,025 11,530
Bangladesh 2,937 6,289 10,009 11,520
Ukraine 1,459 4,741 9,924 11,069
Kosovo 2,288 9,487 10,420
Brazil 3,496 6,005 9,297 10,159
Total35,62761,657299,879790,4451,003,7981,384,9291,955,5692,019,733

The twenty-five largest groups of foreign-born persons in the Swedish civil registry as of autumn 2018 were:[45]

  1. Former Yugoslavia (176 033)*
  2. Syria (172,258)
  3. Finland (150,887) *
  4. Iraq (144 035)
  5. Poland (92 759)
  6. Iran (77 386)
  7. Somalia (68 678)
  8. Germany (50,863)
  9. Turkey (49 948)
  10. Afghanistan (43,991)
  11. Thailand (41,240)
  12. Eritrea (42 300)
  13. Norway (41 747)
  14. Denmark (40 011)
  15. India (35 234)
  16. China (33 288)
  17. Romania (31 040)
  18. Chile (27,996)
  19. United Kingdom (27,658)
  20. Lebanon (27,487)
  21. United States (20,930)
  22. Russia (20,930)
  23. Vietnam (18,713)
  24. Ethiopia (19,358)
  25. Greece (18,142)
  • This only lists Swedish Finns born outside of Sweden; There are ~569,000 people of Finnish origin living in Sweden
  • The seven successor states of Yugoslavia and their historic counterparts (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Kosovo) are counted as one group in many agencies across Sweden. There are also roughly 100,000 native-born "Yugoslavians" in Sweden

The ten most common countries of birth among immigrants registered in Sweden during 2016 (including asylum seekers who came in 2015) were the following:[46]

  1. Syria (+51,540)
  2. Eritrea (+6,580)
  3. Poland (+5,078)
  4. Iraq (+4,901)
  5. India (+4,247)
  6. Somalia (+3,794)
  7. Afghanistan (+3,607)
  8. Finland (+2,969)
  9. Germany (+2,666)
  10. Iran (+2,469)

Language

The Swedish language is by far the dominating language in Sweden, and is used by the government administration. English is also widely spoken and is taught in public schools.

Since 1999, Sweden has five officially recognised minority languages: Sami, Meänkieli, Standard Finnish, Romani and Yiddish.

The Sami language, spoken by about 7,000 people in Sweden, may be used in government agencies, courts, preschools and nursing homes in the municipalities of Arjeplog, Gällivare, Jokkmokk and Kiruna and its immediate neighbourhood.

Similarly, Finnish and Meänkieli can be used in the municipalities of Gällivare, Haparanda, Kiruna, Pajala and Övertorneå and its immediate neighbourhood. Finnish is also official language, along with Swedish, in the city of Eskilstuna.

During the mid to late 20th century, immigrant communities brought other languages, among others being Persian, Serbo-Croatian, Arabic and Neo-Aramaic.[47]

Religion

The majority (56.4%) of the population belongs to the Church of Sweden,[48] the Lutheran church that was disestablished in 2000. This is because until 1996, those who had family members in the church automatically became members at birth.[49] Other Christian denominations in Sweden include the Roman Catholic Church (see Catholic Church of Sweden), several Orthodox churches in diaspora, Baptist, Pentecostal, Neo-pietistic (nyevangeliska) and other evangelical Christian churches (frikyrkor = 'free churches'). Shamanism persisted among the Sami people up until the 18th century, but no longer exists in its traditional form as most Sami today belong to the Lutheran church.

Jews were permitted to practice their religion in five Swedish cities in 1782, and have enjoyed full rights as citizens since 1870. The new Freedom of Religion Bill was passed in 1951, and former obstacles against Non-Lutherans working in schools and hospitals were removed. Further, that bill made it legal to leave any religious denomination, without entering another. There are also many Muslims, as well as a number of Buddhists and Baháʼís in Sweden, mainly as a result of 20th and 21st century immigration. There is also a small Zoroastrian community in Sweden.[50]

See also

Notes

  1. In fertility rates, 2.1 and above represents a stable or increasing population and have been marked blue, while 2.0 and below leads to an aging and, ultimately, declining population.

References

  1. Population Archived 2 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Statistics Sweden. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  2. Radio, Sveriges. "Swedish population hits 10-million mark - Radio Sweden". sverigesradio.se. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  3. "Sweden's population reaches historic ten million milestone". www.thelocal.se. 20 January 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  4. "Fler med finsk bakgrund i Sverige". Sverige Radio. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  5. "Sweden Population 2018", World Population Review
  6. Sweden. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
  7. "The 2005 population and housing census in Sweden will be totally register-based". Census Knowledge Base. United Nations Statistics Division.
  8. Bruhn, Åke (6 July 2001). "The 2005 population and housing census in Sweden will be totally register-based". Symposium on Global Review of 2000 Round of Population and Housing Censuses: Mid-Decade Assessment and Future Prospects. Retrieved 12 March 2017: Does not provide figures, only methodology.
  9. Gustav Sundbärg, Sveriges land och folk (1901), p. 90.
  10. "Population and Population Changes 1749–2015". Statistics Sweden. Archived from the original on 16 February 2017.
  11. "World Population Prospects – Population Division – United Nations". Esa.un.org. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  12. "Sveriges framtida befolkning 2017–2060" (PDF). Statistics Sweden. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  13. "Population on 1st January by age and sex". Eurostat Commission. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  14. Densification in half of Sweden’s urban areas
  15. Roughly 87 percent of the population lives in localities and urban areas
  16. Statistiska tätorter 2018 page 33
  17. Broadbent, Noel (16 March 2010). Lapps and Labyrinths: Saami Prehistory, Colonisation, and Cultural Resilience. Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-9788460-6-0.
  18. Aikio, Ante. "The Study of Saami Substrate Toponyms in Finland" (PDF). Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  19. "National minorities and minority languages" (PDF). Government Offices of Sweden. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  20. "Summary of Population Statistics 1960–2019". Statistics Sweden.
  21. "Statistics Sweden". Archived from the original on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  22. "World Factbook EUROPE : SWEDEN", The World Factbook, 12 July 2018
  23. Max Roser (2014), "Total fertility rate around the world over the last centuries", Our World In Data, Gapminder Foundation, archived from the original on 7 August 2018, retrieved 7 August 2018
  24. "Statistics Sweden". Scb.se. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
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  26. "Life expectancy". Our World in Data. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
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  28. "United States – Selected Social Characteristics: 2006". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  29. "Ethnocultural Portrait of Canada Highlight Tables, 2006 Census". Statistics Canada. 2 April 2008. Archived from the original on 23 July 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
  30. "Number of persons by foreign/Swedish background, age, sex and year". Statistics Sweden. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  31. "Statistikdatabasen – välj tabell". Statistikdatabasen.scb.se. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  32. "Visa detaljerad information". Scb.se. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  33. "Får utrikes födda fler barn?". Statistiska Centralbyrån. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  34. Pocket Facts: Statistics on Integration (PDF). Integrationsverket. The Swedish Integration Board. 2006. ISBN 91-89609-30-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 June 2007.
  35. Sweden: Restrictive Immigration Policy and Multiculturalism, Migration Policy Institute, 2006.
  36. Vasileva, Katya (2011). "6.5% of the EU population are foreigners and 9.4% are born abroad" (PDF). Statistics in Focus. Eurostat (34). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 January 2012.
  37. "Statistikdatabasen – välj tabell". Ssd.scb.se. Archived from the original on 6 April 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  38. "Population by country of birth, age and sex. Year 2000 - 2018". Statistikdatabasen. Archived from the original on 26 September 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  39. "Assyrier/Syrianer – Vilka är de?" [Assyrians/Syriacs – Who are they?] (in Swedish). Ronnaskolan.sodertalje.se. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009.
  40. Vems är historien? Historia som medvetande, kultur och handling i det mångkulturella Sverige [Who Does History Belong To? History as Consciousness, Culture and Action in Multicultural Sweden] (PDF) (in Swedish). educ.umu.se. 2006. ISBN 91-7264-128-2. ISSN 1653-6894. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 November 2006.
  41. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (17 October 2012). "UNHCR | Refworld | The Situation of Roma in Selected Western European Countries". Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  42. "Immigration and emigration in the postwar period, Yugoslav immigration was substantial" (PDF). Statistics Sweden. 2004. p. 96. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  43. "Sweden tightens rules on Iraqi asylum seekers". reuters.com. 6 July 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  44. "Folkmängd efter födelseland 1900–2017". Statistics Sweden. 21 February 2018.
  45. "Befolkning efter födelseland och år". Statistics Sweden / Befolkning efter födelseland och ursprungsland 31 december 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  46. "Invandring till Sverige 2016 och 2015 efter de 20 vanligaste födelseländerna för de invandrade 2016". Statistics Sweden. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  47. "Sweden". Ethnologue. 19 February 1999. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  48. "Svenska kyrkans medlemsutveckling år 1972–2019" [Swedish church's membership development from 1972–2019] (PDF) (in Swedish). Church of Sweden. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  49. Wendy Sloane (4 October 1995). "Sweden Snaps Strong Ties Between Church and State". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  50. Stewart, Sarah; Hintze, Almut; Williams, Alan (2016). The Zoroastrian Flame: Exploring Religion, History and Tradition. London: I.B Tauris. ISBN 9781784536336.
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