Sweden is one of Europe’s most diverse countries, with the proportion of Sweden’s population born abroad (20%) significantly higher than the EU average (12%). Immigrants are generally not seen as an economic burden but as important to meet labour market needs. Until recently, high levels of immigration and acceptance of refugees had gone hand in hand with very positive public attitudes towards immigrants. However, immigration is now heavily politicised, as illustrated in Sweden’s 2022 elections when political narratives linking immigrants to crime were commonplace.

Migration trends

Sweden has been a country of immigration since the post-war era when the country adopted a more open immigration policy. The Common Nordic Labour Market, guest worker arrivals and EU freedom of movement all led to increasing numbers. The country has also welcomed refugees since the 1970s and stood out in 2015 for its acceptance of many refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

This data shows annual immigration, emigration and net migration figures. Source: Statistics Sweden (n.d.) 'Population Statistics'

Salience

Although traditionally not seen as important, immigration peaked as a key issue in Sweden with the increase of arrivals of Syrian refugees in 2015–2016. However, the salience of immigration as a key issue swiftly decreased since.

This shows the percentage of people who see immigration as one of the two most important issues facing the country today. Source: Eurobarometer (n.d.) 'Standard Eurobarometer'. Brussels: European Commission. Data shown is taken from Autumn surveys, with the Autumn surveys of 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 shifting to Winter 2020/21, Winter 2021/22 and Winter 2022/23 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Perceptions

Between 2017 and 2021, there has been a marked shift in how Swedes perceive immigration. Increasingly the population is seeing immigration as more of a problem and less of an opportunity. The share perceiving immigration as more of a opportunity than a problem fell significantly from 45% of survey respondants to 31%.

This shows the percentage of people that think immigration from outside the EU is more of a problem than an opportunity, or more of an opportunity than a problem, or equally a problem and an opportunity. Source: European Commission (2018) 'Special Eurobarometer 469. Integration of immigrants in the European Union'; European Commission (2022) 'Special Eurobarometer 519. Integration of immigrants in the European Union'

Attitudes

Historically, Swedes have held very positive views towards immigrants. While attitudes became slightly more negative in 2016 following the increase in numbers of refugees, these returned to relative normality by 2018 with 63% of the population reporting that immigrants make Sweden a better place to live. However, European Social Survey data from 2022 shows a dramatic decrease in positive attitudes towards immigration (reaching 47%).

This shows how people have answered the question 'Do immigrants make Sweden a worse or a better place to live.' Those scoring 0-4 are classified as holding 'negative' views, those scoring 5 as 'indecisive' and those scoring 6-10 as holding 'positive' views. Source: European Social Survey (n.d.) 'Sweden.' Electronic Dataset Survey postponed in 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic.