Sweden - Executive summary
BACKGROUND RESEARCH REPORT
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Executive summary
The Muslim population of Sweden is estimated at between 250,000 and 400,000, representing between 1.8 and 4.4 per cent of the Swedish population (around 9 million people). About half of the Muslim population is concentrated in the capital, Stockholm, and 10-15 per cent live in Göteborg, the second city. There are around 50,000 Muslims in the third city, Malmö.The Muslim community in Sweden is very heterogeneous, and is ethnically, linguistically, culturally and religiously diverse. The main Muslim groups have origins in Turkey, Iran and the Balkans, and there are also important numbers of Arab, African and Pakistani Muslims. As for most EU countries, the history of the Muslim community in Sweden dates to the first labour migrations of the 1960s and 1970s, mainly from Turkey and the Balkans. From the 1980s on, however, most Muslim migrants arrived as refugees, fleeing conflicts and persecution.
Overall, a main finding of this research report is the difficulty of finding specific data on the Muslim community in Sweden. This is mainly due to Swedish legislation and regulations governing the collection of data on religious affiliation. Also relevant is Swedish integration policy, which views integration as a general process involving both Swedes and people with foreign backgrounds, but which does not make any distinction between ethnic categories or religious affiliations. Another problem, not limited to Sweden, is that of defining who exactly ‘counts’ as Muslim, and whether degree of religious practice should be taken into consideration.
Most research on Muslims in Sweden has dealt with organisational questions and religious questions, including conversions to Islam. Although general information is available in key areas such as health, housing, employment and education, it is very difficult to find any specific data on Muslims. As Muslims in Sweden belong to diverse ethnic groups, it is difficult to locate them according to criteria such as ethnicity, linguistic or national criteria. In the past, Muslims in Sweden mainly organised themselves according to their ethnic or cultural backgrounds, but younger Muslims are taking steps to forge a common Muslim identity. There have been many debates on how best to be both Muslim and Swedish. Research has mainly focused on the ethnic and religious aspects of Muslim identity, and there has also been some research on Muslim women and Islam.
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