African immigrants to Sweden include naturalizedcitizens and residents of Sweden who were born in Africa. As of 2020, there are 236,975 people in Sweden who were born in Africa.[2][3] By 2022, this number rose to 250,881 residents of Sweden who were born in Africa, or approximately 1.5-2% of the total population.[4]
History
African immigrants have been living in Sweden since the 17th century,[5] but in very few numbers. In 1900, there were 79 Africans in Sweden, of which 5, all South Africans, were citizens.[6] One of the early documented Africans in Sweden was Gustav Badin, (1747 or 1750 to 1822), a black court-servant and diarist, originally a slave, butler of Queen of Sweden, Louisa Ulrika and later Princess Sophia Albertine of Sweden.[5] Badin was not the only African swede during the 18th century. There were black people in the royal regiments, one of them was the trumpeter Richard Abramsson who was born in the US. Most of the descendants to the African servants faced poverty in Sweden.[7]
The 1970s, 1980s and 1990s saw increasing immigration from Africa, often as a consequence of civil wars.[8] Swedish statistical data show that the African-born population has grown from 596 in 1960 to 4,149 in 1970, to 10,025 in 1980, 27,343 in 1990, 55,138 in 2000 and 103,077 in 2009.[6] Abeba Aregawi become the first Swedish-Ethiopian Woman to win Gold in 1500m Athletics World Championship in Moscow 2013 and Bronze in 2012 Olympics in London
Population size
Swedish national statistics[9] collect data on country of birth, citizenship and parents' citizenship, but not on ethnicity or parents' country of birth.[10][11] According to Statistics Sweden, as of 2016, there are 110,758 citizens of African nations residing in Sweden.[12] Of these immigrants, the largest groups were born in Somalia (63,853), Eritrea (35,142), Ethiopia (17,944), Morocco (9,945), Egypt (6,807), Gambia (5,055), and Nigeria (5,027).[13] Of these individuals, the largest groups were those holding citizenship from Somalia (41,335), Eritrea (32,099), Ethiopia (6,225), Nigeria (3,440), Egypt (3,359), Morocco (3,099), and Gambia (1,971).[12]
Adoption
Swedish families have been adopting children from Ethiopia since 1969. Between 1969 and 2005, 1,015 Ethiopian children found new parents in Sweden.[14] The interest in adopting children from Africa has been increasing, with increases in the numbers of children adopted from South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Madagascar.[15]News anchorKatarina Sandström,[16] TV-comedian Marika Carlsson[17] and restaurateur and celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson[18] are three well-known Swedes adopted from Ethiopia. Television sports journalist David Fjäll is another well-known Swedish person adopted from Africa.[19]
This list does not include people of African descent who immigrated from a non-African country, or those whose only African ancestry stems from such immigration. For example, Swedes of African-American descent are not listed unless they also have at least one ancestor who directly immigrated from Africa to Sweden.
^ ab"Tabeller över Sveriges befolkning 2009" [Tables on the population in Sweden 2009] (PDF). Tabeller Över Sveriges Befolkning = Tables on the Population in Sweden (in Swedish). Örebro: Statistiska centralbyrån: 20–27. June 2010. ISSN1654-4358.
^Nilsson, Åke (2004). "Invandring och utvandring för grupperav länder". Efterkrigstidens invandring och utvandring [Immigration and Emigration in the Postwar Period] (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Statistiska centralbyrån. pp. 32–48.
