Foreign-Born Employees Now Vital to Sweden's Welfare System Amid Demographic Shifts

A recent report by Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner (SKR) reveals a significant rise in the proportion of foreign-born workers supporting Sweden’s municipal and regional welfare sectors. As of 2024, nearly 300,000 employees in these sectors were born outside Sweden, with foreign-born salaried employees in municipalities increasing from 13% to 22% between 2014 and 2024, and in regions from 14% to 20%. Over half of all care assistants (53%) and substantial shares of nursing assistants (37%), dentists (46%), and specialist physicians (37%) are foreign-born.

Bodil Umegård, head of SKR’s data and analysis section, emphasized that this trend is essential to maintain workforce competence in welfare services, especially given that many foreign-born workers arrived within the last decade. Despite an overall 500,000 increase in working-age individuals (ages 20–66) over the past ten years, the native-born population remained stagnant in size, with all growth attributed to foreign-born individuals.

However, demographic challenges persist due to declining birth rates. Moreover, Sweden’s stricter immigration policies could complicate future recruitment for the welfare sector. Encouragingly, surveys show a growing openness among young foreign-born individuals to welfare careers, demonstrated by rises in foreign-born entrants in nursing programs from 10% to 28% and dental programs from 20% to 57% over the past decade, suggesting continued reliance on this workforce segment going forward.