The shifts in residential segregation and immigration in Sweden 1990-2022

Source abstract

Since the early 1990s, Sweden has undergone substantial demographic change, with the foreign-born share of the population increasing from approximately 10 percent to over 20 percent. Over the same period, the composition of immigration has shifted toward a larger share of migrants from non-Western countries, whose cultural backgrounds often differ markedly from those of the native population. At the same time, Sweden has experienced a pronounced increase in residential segregation, both along ethnic lines and across socioeconomic dimensions. In this paper, we examine the development of residential segregation since the 1990s and assess the extent to which rising segregation is associated with changes in the country’s immigration profile. Our findings indicate a significant strengthening of the relationship between ethnic and socioeconomic segregation over time. Ethnic minorities, particularly non-Western immigrants, have become increasingly concentrated in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods characterized by poverty, non-employment, and low educational attainment. Moreover, while ethnic segregation is strongly associated with recent immigration inflows of non-Western origin, socioeconomic segregation increases more gradually and persistently with cumulative immigration over longer time horizons. These patterns highlight the importance of long-term and preventive housing, settlement, and integration policies in shaping segregation trajectories in contexts experiencing sustained immigration.