The 20th century saw the formation of the Indian diaspora in Sweden when students, labour migrants, and asylum seekers settled there, and Swedish families began adopting Indian children. According to a report by the European University Institute, at the start of the 21st century, family reunification, natural population growth, and increased immigration of skilled labourers and students in response to shifting immigration laws and internationalisation of higher education all contributed to a significant increase in the number of Indians living in Sweden.

By the end of 2022, 50,000 Indians were living in Sweden, said Per-Arne Wikström, Innovation and Science Counsellor, Embassy of Sweden in New Delhi.

However, for the first time, more Indians are leaving Sweden than moving in. This makes them the largest group of emigrated foreigners in the first half of the year.

A historic shift: More Indians leaving Sweden than arriving:

Indians migrating to Sweden have consistently outnumbered those leaving the country every year for the past two decades, according to population data from Statistics Sweden. However, the first half of 2024 raises the possibility that the trend may be broken. Between January and June, 2,837 Indian-born individuals departed Sweden, representing a 171% rise over the same period during the previous year. This means that Indians are by far the largest group of foreign emigrants, surpassing those born in China, Syria, Iraq, and other countries.

This is the first time Sweden has had a negative net migration of Indians in the first half of the year since 1998.

Robin Sukhia, secretary-general and CEO of the Sweden-India Business Council, told the outlet, “We do not believe there is any special reason to this right now, likely have to wait for a full year assessment. Could be a combination of several factors from concluded studies, margins of error, high costs in Sweden last few years, lack of service apartments and accommodation in general. Difficult to know.”

Sweden’s Indian immigration drops to its lowest since 2017:

As per The Local, between January and June 2024, there were 2,461 Indian-born immigrants to Sweden, compared to 3,681 over the same time previous year. However, if the pandemic years (2020 and 2021) are taken out of the equation, Indian immigration to Sweden is at its lowest point since 2017.

Previous to this, there had been a steady increase in Indian immigration since 2009, which was a result of the Nordic nation’s efforts to fill labour shortages in the IT industry in particular and its efforts to draw in highly qualified researchers, students, and labour migrants.

Impact of IT layoffs and work permit regulations:

But even though the Swedish government has promised to draw in foreign talent, new obstacles for immigrants are being created by IT layoffs and stricter work permit regulations.

The number of work permits granted to highly qualified immigrants decreased by 20% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same time the previous year. Within the same year, Indian citizens’ first-time employment licenses decreased by 30%.