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POPULATION

Immigration propels Swedish population close to ten million

Sweden's population is racing towards the ten million mark, new figures from Statistics Sweden show.

Immigration propels Swedish population close to ten million
Swedish football fans at Friends Arena. Photo: Anders Wiklund/TT

In the first half of this year Sweden’s population grew by 55,300, an increase of 9,500 compared to the same period last year. 

Immigration accounted for much of the increase, with 62,200 people moving to Sweden in the first six months of the year. 

Some 18,000 refugees have come to Sweden so far this year, with the majority coming from Syria, Statistics Sweden's figures show. And immigration from other Nordic countries and the EU also remained high. 

The population stats do not include the large proportion of last year’s record influx of asylum seekers who have not yet had their applications processed. 

Sweden’s total population is now 9,906,331, meaning the country is likely to hit the ten-million landmark before the end of 2017.