Country Profile Sweden: Introduction | Sweden | bpb.de

While less than 60,000 people (foreign and Swedish nationals) immigrated to Sweden in 2000, annual immigration levels have been above 100,000 since 2012. In 2014, almost 127,000 people moved to Sweden. Following this trend, the share of foreign-born residents among the total population has risen from around 11.3 percent in 2000 to roughly 16.5 percent in 2014.

Open Immigration Policy

Despite the fact that, since 2010, the xenophobic "Sweden Democrats" party (Sverigedemokraterna) has managed to strongly increase their presence in the political system, Sweden has so far maintained a relatively open immigration policy. In a factsheet about migration policy, the Swedish government confirmed in 2014 its ambition to maintain a "sustainable migration policy that safeguards the right to seek asylum and, within the framework of regulated immigration, facilitates mobility across borders, promotes demand-driven labor migration, harnesses and takes into account the effects of migration on development and deepens European and international cooperation." It also affirmed its conviction that immigration "helps to revitalize the Swedish society, the labor market and the economy as immigrants bring new knowledge and experience from their countries of origin."

Challenges

As a result of a strongly increasing number of asylum seekers arriving in Sweden in recent years, and subsequent immigration of family members of those asylum seekers who are granted protection, Sweden faces some challenges. There is a shortage of affordable housing for newly arrived migrants, and it is also difficult for them to find jobs. Unemployment levels among immigrants from non-EU countries are high. Despite these challenges, Sweden’s integration policies are still often considered successful, and even exemplary. Part of this can be attributed to the fact that Sweden has an outspoken policy of equal rights. All legal migrants who stay, or can be expected to stay, in Sweden for at least one year have access to health care, social security and other welfare benefits in the same way as Swedish nationals, regardless of where they come from and irrespective of the purpose of their stay. There has also been an ambition to increase the presence of people with a migration background and immigrants in public life, thus symbolizing the openness of the multicultural society. Not least, this is true for many mainstream media, such as public television, political parties, and the government. In the current government, which is based on a minority coalition of the Social Democratic Party and the Green Party, there are several ministers with a migration background.

By comparison with the rest of Europe, Sweden takes in many refugees and actively encourages new labor migrants without prejudice to their qualifications. Recently, the Swedish Parliament introduced legislation aiming at encouraging circular migration, thus committing to facilitate inward and outward mobility.

The country profile first looks at Interner Link: historical developments of migration to and from Sweden, followed by an overview on Interner Link: recent immigration trends. It then focuses on Interner Link: immigration policy placing special emphasis on Interner Link: labor migration and approaches to circular migration. Said chapters lead up to (statistical) information on Sweden's current Interner Link: immigrant population and the question on how to Interner Link: integrate immigrants into mainstream society – an issue that is closely related to possibilities of Interner Link: citizenship acquisition. Following this, the country profile draws a closer look at both Interner Link: refugee migration to Sweden, including the country's asylum and refugee protection policies, and Interner Link: irregular migration. Finally, Interner Link: future challenges with regard to immigration are discussed.

This text is part of the Interner Link: country profile Sweden.