Nordic societies grow more diverse: Insights from new demographic report

“Since 1990, there has been a robust and steady rise in diversity across all Nordic countries. Sweden and Iceland have the highest levels of foreign-born residents.”

This insight was shared by Nora Sánchez Gassen, Senior Research Fellow at Nordregio, during the launch of the report State of the Nordic Region 2024 on 19 July 2024.

The report partly centres on the latest demographic trends in the Nordic countries. High levels of immigration, combined with low fertility rates among the native populations, have led to a dramatic increase in diversity across the region in a relatively short period.

One in five residents of Sweden and Iceland is foreign-born

The foreign-born populations have risen across nearly all of the Nordics over the past three decades, reaching historically high levels.

Sweden, with the longest history of foreign-born residents in the Nordic region, has experienced a significant increase in its foreign-born population, rising from 9 per cent to 20 per cent since 1990.

Iceland, previously known for its homogeneous and insular society, has undergone a remarkable transformation. The share of foreign-born individuals has surged from 4 per cent in 1998 to 22 per cent today, making it the Nordic region’s highest proportion of foreign-born residents.

The levels for Sweden and Iceland, where around one in five residents are foreign-born, are among the highest in Europe, and are higher than traditional migration destination countries such as the United States, the report states.

Substantial growth also in the other Nordic countries

In both Norway and Denmark, the proportion of foreign-born residents stood at 5 per cent in 1990. This has since grown to 17 per cent in Norway and 14 per cent in Denmark.

Finland, which had the smallest share of foreign-born residents in 1990 at just 1 per cent, has also seen a notable rise, with this figure now at 9 per cent.

Among the autonomous territories, the proportion of foreign-born residents has been steadily rising in both the Faroe Islands and Åland. Greenland is an exception, with a trend moving in the opposite direction. This decline can be attributed to more native Greenlanders taking over administrative roles previously held by Danes.

New and old minorities

Nowadays, the Nordic countries are home to both old and new minority groups. The older migrant communities mainly consist of individuals from other Nordic countries or, in smaller numbers, from Western Europe. In contrast, the newer migrant groups include people from newer EU member states and from outside Europe, with many of the latter arriving as refugees.

While none of the Nordic countries’ national statistics offices classify people by ethnicity, the report includes a map of the Nordic countries that shows the largest minority group at the municipal level.

In many municipalities in Iceland, Norway, and Denmark, the largest minority group consists of individuals born in the EU’s newer member states that joined the union after 2004. In Finland, significant minority groups include Swedes and people born in the former Soviet Union.

In Sweden, large minority groups often originate from outside the EU, with notable numbers from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Syria, or Somalia. Additionally, people born in Finland represent the largest minority group in several regions mainly near the Finnish border in northern Sweden.

Immigrant settlement patterns crucial for integration

The report emphasises the importance of examining where immigrants settle within a country, as this significantly impacts their integration. Generally, foreign-born individuals tend to reside in the more densely populated areas in the southern parts of the Nordic countries and around the capital cities.

Most newcomers have been welcomed by the local population and have successfully integrated into the Nordic countries. However, in some cases, integration has been less successful, particularly when newcomers remain segregated from the host population.

Spatial segregation is closely tied to social segregation, the report states. The location where someone grows up and lives significantly impacts their life opportunities. Immigrants who cluster in neighbourhoods with others from their country or region of origin often find themselves isolated from the broader Nordic society they have moved to.

Therefore, the report emphasises that understanding the geographic patterns of immigration is essential for developing effective policies to address segregation.

Nordic countries outpace global average in migration

Globally, 3.6 per cent of the world’s population are migrants, as defined by the UN as individuals residing outside their country of birth. In contrast, the proportion of foreign-born individuals is significantly higher in the Nordic countries, contributing to increasingly diverse populations across the region.

“We see an increasing trend, and there are no signs that this is levelling off, so we can prepare to become even more diverse societies in the future,” says Nora Sánchez Gassen at Nordregio.

Written by Sebastian Dahlström
Photo by Martin Thaulow