Published 6 February 2023 at 10.23
Domestic. The Swedish Migration Agency lowers the forecast for the number of asylum seekers from the third world for both 2023 and 2024.
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In 2022, the total number of asylum seekers in Europe was the highest since 2016 and in Germany there is now an asylum chaos.
Also in Sweden, more people applied for asylum last year compared to during the pandemic years, but the numbers were lower than in 2018 and 2019.
Of those who applied for asylum in Sweden in 2022 (excluding applicants from Ukraine), approximately 9,600 people, or 65 percent, had recently entered the country. The others were applicants who had been here for a longer period of time and, for example, had a refusal decision that was time-barred.
– In recent years, we have seen that an ever-lower proportion of asylum seekers in Europe are applying to Sweden. We are therefore adjusting down the forecasts for 2023 and beyond, says Annika Gottberg, director of planning at the Swedish Migration Agency.
The Swedish Migration Agency estimates that around 16,000 people will seek asylum in Sweden in 2023 and 2024 respectively. Compared to the assessment in the previous forecast, this means a reduction with 2,000 asylum seekers this year, and a reduction of 3,000 asylum seekers next year.
More applications for citizenship are expected
The forecast for the number of applications for Swedish citizenship, however, is adjusted upwards for the years 2023 to 2025. This year approximately 80,000 applications for citizenship are expected to come in and in 2024 just over 70,000 applications. That the numbers are written up depends on updated data for how many people may be eligible for citizenship in the coming years.
– Looking at the outcome in 2022, there is a certain general increase which could be due to more of the people than before who have long had a permanent residence permit apply for Swedish citizenship. We will follow how this develops, says Annika Gottberg.