Between 2000 and 2023, about 19,000 children aged 0-17 in Sweden were adopted. Of these, around 10,000 were girls and 9,000 were boys. The number of adoptions fluctuated and peaked in 2004 with 700 girls and 400 boys adopted. Since then, the total number of adoptions decreased. In 2023, approximately 160 girls and an equal number of boys were adopted. Until 2008, more girls were adopted, then slightly more boys, and since 2019, the numbers have been nearly equal.

International- and national adoptions

There are two main categories of adoptions in Sweden: international adoptions and national adoptions. From 2014 to 2023, there was a decrease in the number of foreign-born boys and girls adopted in Sweden. The number of Swedish-born children being adopted increased slightly until 2019, then also started to decrease. In 2023, the number of adopted boys and girls was roughly equal, for both Swedish-born and foreign-born children.

Child and Family Statistics at Statistics Sweden

Statistics on adoptions in Sweden are an example of updated data available in Child and Family Statistics at Statistics Sweden. Other statistics includes data on children's families, parental separations, joint and sole custody, geographical distance between children and parents, and children with Swedish or foreign backgrounds. We also cover children's living arrangements, parents' employment, and economic conditions at Children and their Families (scb.se).

March 2025.