Demographic analysis: Internal migration in Sweden 2002—2021
Increasing internal migration in Sweden among the foreign-born
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2022-11-11 8.00
The total number of moves within Sweden has increased from just over 1.2 to nearly 1.6 million from 2002 to 2021. The largest increase occurs in recent years, which can be linked to the increase of population since the mid-2010s. During the past 20 years, internal migration of the Swedish-born has slightly declined while that of the foreign-born has substantially increased.
A report published by Statistics Sweden describes internal migration in Sweden over the past 20 years. The report presents how internal migration varies over time by month as well as in different demographic groups.
Internal migration in Sweden has increased from 135 to 152 moves per 1 000 persons from 2002 to 2021. Most of the moves occur within municipalities during the whole study period.
August is the most popular month for moving, followed by September and June. Moving in August is particularly pronounced for moving between counties. This pattern can largely be attributed to the move of university students at the beginning of the semester.
Internal migration occurs mainly at three stages of life: before school age, in one’s twenties and after age 80. Young adults in their twenties move most frequently. Compared with other age groups, young adults in their twenties are more likely to move between counties while the seniors, those over 80 years old, are more likely to move within the municipality.
Internal migration of the Swedish-born has somewhat declined whereas that of the foreign-born has substantially increased. In the period of 2017—2021, the probability of moving for the foreign-born is almost twice that of the Swedish-born. Among the foreign-born, those who have lived in Sweden for a shorter period move more frequently than those who have lived in Sweden for a longer period. The longer the duration of stay in Sweden, the more their moving pattern resembles that of the Swedish-born.
Definitions and explanations
In the report, a change of address in the population register is counted as a move. Type of move refers to moving within municipality, moving between municipalities within county and moving between counties. A person can move more than once during a year. This report describes the number of moves rather than the number of persons who move. Moves per 1 000 persons is calculated as the number of moves in relation to the mid-year population of a given year. The measure shows how many moves every 1 000 persons perform within a given year.
Information on population and internal migration is collected from the Total Population Register (RTB).
Publication
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.