The report describes the living conditions of various groups of foreign born persons and the Swedish born persons concerning the areas of demographics, education, employment and working conditions, economy, housing, health and well-being, leisure time, social relationships, and democracy.
Results in the report show that:

Democracy

• Seven out of ten persons who are 16 years and older feel completely or to a large extent involved in society. There are no statistically significant differences between different groups of foreign born persons and Swedish born persons.
• Voter participation is lower among foreign born persons than among persons born in Sweden. In the 2018 general elections, voter participation was lowest among persons born outside Europe who have spent less than 10 years in Sweden, 68 percent. Among persons born outside Europe who have lived in Sweden for at least 10 years and persons born in Europe, voter participation was around 75 percent. Among Swedish born persons who have at least one Swedish born parent, 91 percent of those eligible to vote of the vote did so.

Health and well-being

• According to the indicator “content with life” one in three persons state that they are very content with life, regardless of birth country group.

Housing

• The share of persons in overcrowded housing is higher among persons born outside Europe who have lived in Sweden for less than 10 years. In this group, nearly one in three persons, 31 percent, lives in housing with more than two persons per bedroom. Among those born outside Europe who have lived in Sweden for at least 10 years and persons born in Europe, around 10 percent live in overcrowded housing. The corresponding share among Swedish born persons who have at least one Swedish born parent is two percent.

Employment and working conditions

• Persons born outside Europe who have lived in Sweden for less than 10 years are gainfully employed to a smaller extent than other groups of both foreign born persons and Swedish born persons. This group also has a less stable position on the labour market. Temporary employment, worry about becoming unemployed and lack of influence over work are more common in this group.

Economy

• The income level is considerably lower among persons born outside Europe who have lived in Sweden for less than 10 years, and difficulties with economy are also more common in this group. Seventy percent of persons born outside Europe who have lived in Sweden for less than 10 years state that they could not obtain SEK 12 000 to pay for an unexpected expense without borrowing or asking for help. Among persons born outside Europe who have lived in Sweden for a long time, this applies to 40 percent, while the corresponding share is 14 percent among Swedish born persons who have at least one Swedish born parent.

Education

• Among the group of persons born outside Europe who have lived in Sweden less than 10 years, a small share completed upper secondary education. On the other hand, among persons who complete upper secondary education, there are no major differences between groups with regard to the share that enters higher education.

Read more in the complete report “Integration - a description of the situation in Sweden”. These statistics are based on a number of various sample surveys and registers available at Statistics Sweden and they address the most recently available data from each source.

The population has been divided into five groups: persons born outside Europe who have spent 0-9 years in Sweden, persons born outside Europe who have spent at least 10 years in Sweden, persons born in Europe regardless of time spent in Sweden, persons born in Sweden who have two foreign born parents, and persons born in Sweden who have at least one Swedish born parent.

Integration - a description of the situation in Sweden