[Heimdallr]

.
Immigration to Sweden in 2006 reached its highest level since records began. At the same time emigration also soared to a level not seen in over 100 years, according to official figures published by Statistics Sweden.

Swedish citizenship was granted to more people than ever before in 2006, a year in which the country's population increased by 65,505. The total population recorded on 31st December was 9,113,257.

Immigration last year increased by 47 percent compared to 2005, reaching a total of 95,750 people. This constituted just over 12,000 more immigrants than the previous record year of 1994, when Sweden took in large numbers of refugees fleeing the war in Yugoslavia.

Last year's increase can primarily be explained by temporary asylum legislation, which gave asylum seekers the right to have their cases reassessed. The legislation covered the period from 15th November 2005 to 31st March 2006 but a backlog meant that work continued throughout 2006....

Another record was also broken in 2006 when 51,239 people had their Swedish citizenship applications approved. The largest increase in terms of numbers occurred among Iraqi citizens, 12,895 of whom were granted Swedish citizenship.

At the same time as immigration to Sweden increased, emigration out of the country also rose. During 2006, 44 908 people emigrated, an increase of 18 percent compared to the previous year.

The last time a higher number of people emigrated from Sweden was in 1892, 45,504 people packed their bags and left the country. As in 2005, the majority of those leaving were Swedish citizens followed by Finns, Danes and Norwegians.

Source: The Local >>> Record immigration to Sweden in 2006