Demographics of Sweden

The demography of Sweden is monitored by Statistics Sweden (SCB). As of 31 December 2013, Sweden's population was estimated to be 9.64 million people,[1] making it the 90th most populous country in the world.[2] The three biggest cities are Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. Approximately 85% of the country's population resides in its urban areas.[3]

Historical populations
YearPop.±% p.a.
1570 900,000—    
1650 1,225,000+0.39%
1700 1,485,000+0.39%
1720 1,350,000−0.48%
1755 1,878,000+0.95%
1815 2,465,000+0.45%
1865 4,099,000+1.02%
1900 5,140,000+0.65%
1970 8,081,142+0.65%
1980 8,317,937+0.29%
1990 8,562,000+0.29%
2005 9,002,000+0.33%
2010 9,348,000+0.76%
2015 9,838,480+1.03%
Source: Historical figures - Sveriges land och folk,[4] Modern figures - Statistics Sweden [1]

Population statistics

Population of Sweden, 1961 to 2003. The population increased from 7.5 to 8.3 million during the 1960s to 1970s. After a phase of steadiness during the early 1980s, the population grew further from 8.3 to 8.8 million during 1987 to 1997, followed by another phase of stagnation (followed by another growth phase from 8.8 to 9.3 million over 2004 to 2010).
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+

At the housing and population census 1990 the Swedish population stood at 8 587 353 out of which 4 242 351 male and 4 345 002 female. According to a 2012 survey there were 1 473 256 foreign born within the country making up 15% of the population.[5] [6]

Sweden census 2005

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]

Ethnicity

The majority of the population are Swedes. 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 includes the Sami people, historically a nomadic reindeer herding group that has been native to Fenno-Scandinavia for at least 5000 years.[8] Today, the Sami language holds the status of official minority language in four municipalities in the Norrbotten county.

Immigrants from the Middle East have been a rapidly growing share of Sweden’s population. According to the government agency Statistics Sweden, the number of Swedes born in all of Asia (including the Middle East) rose from just 1,000 in 1950 to 295,000 in 2003.[9] Most of those immigrants came from Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and Syria, according to Statistics Sweden.[9]

Additionally, the birth rate among immigrants is higher than among ethnic Swedes.[10]

Vital statistics since 1900

Data according to Statistics Sweden, which collects the official statistics for Sweden.[11]

Aver-
age popu-
lation (x 1000)		 Live births Deaths Natural change Crude birth rate (per 1000) Crude death rate (per 1000) Natural change (per 1000) Fertility rates
1900 5 117 138 139 86 146 51 993 27.0 16.8 10.2 4,02
1901 5 156 139 370 82 772 56 598 27.0 16.1 11.0 4,04
1902 5 187 137 364 79 722 57 642 26.5 15.4 11.1 3,95
1903 5 210 133 896 78 610 55 286 25.7 15.1 10.6 3,82
1904 5 241 134 952 80 152 54 800 25.7 15.3 10.5 3,83
1905 5 278 135 409 82 443 52 966 25.7 15.6 10.0 3,83
1906 5 316 136 620 76 366 60 254 25.7 14.4 11.3 3,81
1907 5 357 136 793 78 149 58 644 25.5 14.6 10.9 3,77
1908 5 404 138 874 80 568 58 306 25.7 14.9 10.8 3,79
1909 5 453 139 505 74 538 64 967 25.6 13.7 11.9 3,71
1910 5 499 135 625 77 212 58 413 24.7 14.0 10.6 3,60
1911 5 542 132 977 76 462 56 515 24.0 13.8 10.2 3,49
1912 5 583 132 868 79 241 53 627 23.8 14.2 9.6 3,44
1913 5 621 130 200 76 724 53 476 23.2 13.6 9.5 3,32
1914 5 659 129 458 78 311 51 147 22.9 13.8 9.0 3,29
1915 5 696 122 997 83 587 39 410 21.6 14.7 6.9 3,06
1916 5 735 121 679 77 771 43 908 21.2 13.6 7.7 2,99
1917 5 779 120 855 77 385 43 470 20.9 13.4 7.5 2,93
1918 5 807 117 955 104 594 13 361 20.3 18.0 2.3 2,83
1919 5 830 115 193 84 289 30 904 19.8 14.5 5.3 2,72
1920 5 876 138 753 78 128 60 625 23.6 13.3 10.3 3,22
1921 5 929 127 723 73 536 54 187 21.5 12.4 9.1 2,93
1922 5 971 116 946 76 343 40 603 19.6 12.8 6.8 2,66
1923 5 997 113 435 68 424 45 011 18.9 11.4 7.5 2,55
1924 6 021 109 055 72 001 37 054 18.1 12.0 6.2 2,43
1925 6 045 106 292 70 918 35 374 17.6 11.7 5.9 2,34
1926 6 064 102 007 71 344 30 663 16.8 11.8 5.1 2,22
1927 6 081 97 994 77 219 20 775 16.1 12.7 3.4 2,11
1928 6 097 97 868 73 267 24 601 16.1 12.0 4.0 2,08
1929 6 113 92 861 74 538 18 323 15.2 12.2 3.0 1,95
1930 6 131 94 220 71 790 22 430 15.4 11.7 3.7 1,96
1931 6 152 91 074 77 121 13 953 14.8 12.5 2.3 1,88
1932 6 176 89 779 71 459 18 320 14.5 11.6 3.0 1,83
1933 6 201 85 020 69 607 15 413 13.7 11.2 2.5 1,72
1934 6 222 85 092 69 921 15 171 13.7 11.2 2.4 1,67
1935 6 242 85 906 72 813 13 093 13.8 11.7 2.1 1,70
1936 6 259 88 938 74 836 14 102 14.2 12.0 2.3 1,75
1937 6 276 90 373 75 392 14 981 14.4 12.0 2.4 1,77
1938 6 297 93 946 72 693 21 253 14.9 11.5 3.4 1,84
1939 6 326 97 380 72 876 24 504 15.4 11.5 3.9 1,90
1940 6 356 95 778 72 748 23 030 15.1 11.4 3.6 1,86
1941 6 389 99 727 71 910 27 817 15.6 11.3 4.4 1,92
1942 6 432 113 961 63 741 50 220 17.7 9.9 7.8 2,19
1943 6 491 125 392 66 105 59 287 19.3 10.2 9.1 2,41
1944 6 560 134 991 72 284 62 707 20.6 11.0 9.6 2,61
1945 6 636 135 373 71 901 63 472 20.4 10.8 9.6 2,63
1946 6 719 132 597 70 635 61 962 19.7 10.5 9.2 2,57
1947 6 803 128 779 73 579 55 200 18.9 10.8 8.1 2,50
1948 6 883 126 683 67 693 58 990 18.4 9.8 8.6 2,47
1949 6 956 121 272 69 537 51 735 17.4 10.0 7.4 2,39
1950 7 014 115 414 70 296 45 118 16.5 10.0 6.4 2,28
1951 7 073 110 168 69 799 40 369 15.6 9.9 5.7 2,20
1952 7 125 110 192 68 270 41 922 15.5 9.6 5.9 2,22
1953 7 171 110 144 69 553 40 591 15.4 9.7 5.7 2,25
1954 7 213 105 096 69 030 36 066 14.6 9.6 5.0 2,18
1955 7 262 107 305 68 634 38 671 14.8 9.5 5.3 2,25
1956 7 315 107 960 70 205 37 755 14.8 9.6 5.2 2,29
1957 7 364 107 168 73 132 34 036 14.6 9.9 4.6 2,29
1958 7 409 105 502 71 065 34 437 14.2 9.6 4.6 2,26
1959 7 446 104 743 70 889 33 854 14.1 9.5 4.5 2,29
1960 7 480 102 219 75 093 27 126 13.7 10.0 3.6 2,17
1961 7 520 104 501 73 555 30 946 13.9 9.8 4.1 2,21
1962 7 562 107 284 76 791 30 493 14.2 10.2 4.0 2,25
1963 7 604 112 903 76 460 36 443 14.8 10.1 4.8 2,33
1964 7 661 122 664 76 661 46 003 16.0 10.0 6.0 2,47
1965 7 734 122 806 78 194 44 612 15.9 10.1 5.8 2,39
1966 7 808 123 354 78 440 44 914 15.8 10.0 5.8 2,37
1967 7 868 121 360 79 783 41 577 15.4 10.1 5.3 2,28
1968 7 914 113 087 82 476 30 611 14.3 10.4 3.9 2,07
1969 7 968 107 622 83 352 24 270 13.5 10.5 3.0 1,94
1970 8 043 110 150 80 026 30 124 13.7 9.9 3.7 1,94
1971 8 098 114 484 82 717 31 767 14.1 10.2 3.9 1,98
1972 8 122 112 273 84 051 28 222 13.8 10.3 3.5 1,93
1973 8 137 109 663 85 640 24 023 13.5 10.5 3.0 1,88
1974 8 161 109 874 86 316 23 558 13.5 10.6 2.9 1,91
1975 8 193 103 632 88 208 15 424 12.6 10.8 1.9 1,78
1976 8 222 98 345 90 677 7 668 12.0 11.0 0.9 1,70
1977 8 252 96 057 88 202 7 855 11.6 10.7 1.0 1,64
1978 8 276 93 248 89 681 3 567 11.3 10.8 0.4 1,61
1979 8 294 96 255 91 074 5 181 11.6 11.0 0.6 1,66
1980 8 310 97 064 91 800 5 264 11.7 11.0 0.6 1,69
1981 8 320 94 065 92 034 2 031 11.3 11.1 0.2 1,63
1982 8 325 92 748 90 671 2 077 11.1 10.9 0.2 1,60
1983 8 329 91 780 90 791 989 11.0 10.9 0.1 1,61
1984 8 337 93 889 90 483 3 406 11.3 10.9 0.4 1,66
1985 8 350 98 463 94 032 4 431 11.8 11.3 0.5 1,74
1986 8 370 101 950 93 295 8 655 12.2 11.1 1.0 1,79
1987 8 398 104 699 93 307 11 392 12.5 11.1 1.4 1,84
1988 8 437 112 080 96 743 15 337 13.3 11.5 1.8 1,96
1989 8 493 116 023 92 110 23 913 13.7 10.8 2.8 2,02
1990 8 559 123 938 95 161 28 777 14.5 11.1 3.4 2,14
1991 8 617 123 737 95 202 28 535 14.4 11.0 3.3 2,12
1992 8 668 122 848 94 710 28 138 14.2 10.9 3.2 2,09
1993 8 719 117 998 97 008 20 990 13.5 11.1 2.4 2,00
1994 8 781 112 257 91 844 20 413 12.8 10.5 2.3 1,90
1995 8 831 103 326 96 910 6 416 11.7 11.0 0.7 1,74
1996 8 843 95 297 94 133 1 164 10.8 10.6 0.1 1,61
1997 8 846 89 171 92 674 -3 503 10.1 10.5 -0.4 1,52
1998 8 851 88 384 92 891 -4 507 10.0 10.5 -0.5 1,51
1999 8 858 88 173 94 726 -6 553 10.0 10.7 -0.7 1,50
2000 8 872 90 441 93 285 -2 844 10.2 10.5 -0.3 1,54
2001 8 896 91 466 93 752 -2 286 10.3 10.5 -0.3 1,57
2002 8 925 95 815 95 009 806 10.7 10.6 0.1 1,65
2003 8 958 99 157 92 961 6 196 11.1 10.4 0.7 1,71
2004 8 994 100 928 90 532 10 396 11.2 10.1 1.2 1.75
2005 9 030 101 346 91 710 9 636 11.2 10.2 1.1 1.77
2006 9 081 105 913 91 177 14 736 11.7 10.0 1.6 1.85
2007 9 148 107 421 91 729 15 692 11.7 10.0 1.7 1.88
2008 9 220 109 301 91 449 17 852 11.9 9.9 1.9 1.91
2009 9 299 111 801 90 080 21 721 12.0 9.7 2.3 1.94
2010 9 378 115 641 90 487 25 154 12.3 9.6 2.7 1.98
2011 9 449 111 770 89 938 21 832 11.8 9.5 2.3 1.90
2012 9 519 113 177 91 938 21 239 11.9 9.7 2.2 1.91
2013 9 644 113 593 90 402 23 191 11.8 9.4 2.4 1.89
2014 9 747 114 907 88 976 25 931 11.9 9.2 2.7 1.88

Current vital statistics

Number of births :

Number of deaths :

Natural increase :

Population projections

Statistics Sweden projects the following population development in Sweden:[1]

Year Projection
20149,751,329
202010,269,319
203010,727,419
204011,008,064
205011,342,891
206011,656,852
207011,953,578
208012,304,896
209012,656,802
210013,043,901
211013,388,925

Eurostat projects a population in Sweden reaching 10,382,000 people in 2035 and 10,875,000 in 2060.[12]

Migration

Immigration

Main article: Immigration to Sweden

As of 2011, Statistics Sweden reported that around 19.6% or 1,858,000 inhabitants of Sweden had foreign background, defined as born abroad or born in Sweden by two parents born abroad.[13]

Demographics

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.[14][15]

The ten largest groups of foreign-born persons in the Swedish civil registry in 2014 were:[16]

  1.  Finland (158,488)
  2.  Iraq (130,178)
  3.  Poland (81,697)
  4.  Iran (68,436)
  5. Former Yugoslavia (67,892)
  6.  Syria (67,671)
  7.  Somalia (57,906)
  8.  Bosnia and Herzegovina (57,289)
  9.  Germany (49,359)
  10.  Turkey (46,146)

The seven successor states of Yugoslavia (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro) have a combined population of 162,136 persons residing in Sweden which would make them the largest foreign-born group.

The number of Assyrians in Sweden is about 100,000-120,000.[17][18] The majority of Iraqis in Sweden are Assyrians, and there is also a Mandaean community.

The ten fastest growing groups of foreign-born residents in Sweden between 2013 and 2014 were the following nationalities:

  1. Syria Syria (+25,923)
  2. Eritrea Eritrea (+5,235)
  3. Somalia Somalia (+3,685)
  4. Poland Poland (+3,522)
  5. Afghanistan Afghanistan (+3,299)
  6. Romania Romania (+1,367)
  7. India India (+1,347)
  8. Iraq Iraq (+1,232)
  9. Iran Iran (+1,225)
  10. Thailand Thailand (+1,155)

The growth largely reflects refugee and asylee resettlement (Syria, Eritrea, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran) and economic migration from the rest of the EU (Poland, Romania).

History

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.[19]

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.[20]

The first group of Assyrians/Syriacs moved to Sweden from Lebanon in 1967. Many of them live in Södertälje (Stockholm).[21][22] There are also around 40,000 Roma in Sweden.[23]

Immigration of Iraqis increased dramatically during the Iraq War, during 2003 to 2007. 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.[24]

Emigration

In the 19th century, Sweden's yearly population growth rate peaked at 1.2% (i.e. it doubled in less than 60 years), compared to 1% today (migration excluded). This considerable population growth rate led, before the Industrial Revolution, to a pauperisation of the rural population, for each generation inherited smaller and smaller shares. Due to years of crop failure in the 1840s and 1860s, the U.S. Homestead Act of 1862, and to a lesser extent religious persecution, emigration started and grew. Between 1850 and 1930 1,050,000 Swedes emigrated (re-migration excluded), chiefly to Canada, U.S. and to Denmark. If they had not left, Sweden's population would have been about 2,000,000 higher today, assuming famine and civil war would not have resulted from their staying. (After 1929 the net-migration has been directed towards Sweden.)

The re-migration of Swedish nationals from the U.S. was culturally more important than the absolute figures reveal. The re-migrants often re-settled in their native parish, where their relative wealth and foreign experience ensured a prestigious position in the community. U.S. views, values and not the least world-view followed the re-migrants, ensuring a popular perception of closeness to U.S., contrary to the situation in for instance neighbouring Denmark or Finland (and contrary to the Swedish elite's closeness to Germany and Continental Europe).

Language

The Swedish language is by far the dominating language in Sweden, and is used by the government administration.

Since 1999, Sweden has five officially recognised minority languages: Sami, Meänkieli, Standard Finnish, Romani chib 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 Turkish, Serbo-Croatian, Arabic, Neo-Aramaic.[25]

Religion

Main article: Religion in Sweden

The majority (66%) of the population belongs to the Church of Sweden,[26] 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. 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 a number of Muslims, Buddhists, and Bahá'í in Sweden, mainly from immigration.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Statistikdatabasen". Statistics Sweden. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  2. ↑ "U.S. & World Population Clocks". Census.gov. Retrieved 2014-03-06.
  3. ↑ Svanström, Stefan. "Varannan svensk bor nära havet". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  4. ↑ Gustav Sundbärg, Sveriges land och folk (1901), page 90.
  5. ↑ http://www.scb.se/sv_/Hitta-statistik/Artiklar/Fortsatt-okning-av-utrikes-fodda-i-Sverige/
  6. ↑ Befolkningsstatistik. "Största folkökningen på nästan 70 år". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  7. ↑ http://unstats.un.org/unsd/censuskb/article.aspx?id=10161[] http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/meetings/egm/Symposium2001/docs/symposium_13.htm Note Second link is as accessed November 2011: Only a paper "The 2005 population and housing census in Sweden will be totally register-based" on how the census was done, no information on results.
  8. ↑ Broadbent, Noel (March 16, 2010). Lapps and Labyrinths: Saami Prehistory, Colonisation, and Cultural Resilience. Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-9788460-6-0.
  9. 1 2 P. 96, Immigration and emigration in the postwar period, Statistics Sweden 2004 http://www.scb.se/statistik/_publikationer/BE0701_1950I02_BR_BE51ST0405.pdf
  10. ↑ Statistics Sweden, 2008 http://www.scb.se/sv_/Hitta-statistik/Publiceringskalender/Visa-detaljerad-information/?publobjid=9030++
  11. ↑ Statistics Sweden
  12. ↑ "From 2015, deaths projected to outnumber births in the EU27". Eurostat Commission. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  13. ↑ http://www.scb.se/Pages/TableAndChart____26041.aspx Foreign background include foreign-born and Swedish-born with two foreign-born parents
  14. ↑ 6.5% of the EU population are foreigners and 9.4% are born abroad, Eurostat, Katya VASILEVA, 34/2011.
  15. ↑ http://www.ssd.scb.se/databaser/makro/SaveShow.asp
  16. ↑ "Befolkning efter födelseland och ursprungsland 31 december 2012" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  17. ↑ "Sweden National Institutions for Language". Eurfedling.org. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  18. ↑ "History of Assyrians". Aina.org. 2007-04-01. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  19. ↑ The Swedish Integration Board (2006). Pocket Facts: Statistics on Integration. Integrationsverket, 2006. ISBN 91-89609-30-1. Available online in pdf format. Retrieved 14 February 2007.
  20. ↑ Sweden: Restrictive Immigration Policy and Multiculturalism, Migration Policy Institute, 2006.
  21. ↑ Assyrians/Syriacs in Sweden (Swedish)
  22. ↑ K. Nordgren, Who Does History Belong To? History as Consciousness, Culture and Action in Multicultural Sweden, Karlstad University, Sweden, 2006. (Swedish)
  23. ↑ Romani people in Sweden
  24. ↑ "Sweden tightens rules on Iraqi asylum seekers". reuters.com. 2007-07-06. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
  25. ↑ "Sweden". Ethnologue. 1999-02-19. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  26. ↑ Church of Sweden: Svenska kyrkans medlemsutveckling år 1972-2012

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