Sweden sees 30% drop in asylum requests

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STOCKHOLM - Asylum applications to Sweden fell by 30 percent in 2025 compared to the year before, the Swedish migration minister said Friday, as the country heads to a parliamentary election this year.

The centre-right Swedish government -- a minority coalition propped up by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats -- came to power in 2022 vowing to get tough on immigration.

Following a large influx of asylum seekers in Sweden during the 2015 migrant crisis, successive left- and right-wing governments have tightened asylum rules.

At a press conference, migration minister Johan Forssell highlighted several measures aimed at restricting immigration.

They included increased financial assistance and incentives for immigrants returning to their countries of origin, along with tougher conditions for obtaining citizenship and for family reunification.

Immigration "is decreasing to Sweden and it is decreasing sharply," Forssell said.

"In 2025, the number of asylum seekers to Sweden continued to decline. It's a sharp decrease. A 30 percent drop in just one year," Forssell said.

The minister added that, since the government came to power, asylum request had decreased by 60 percent.

"At the same time returns have increased by 60 percent."

As of 2026, immigrants who voluntarily return to their countries of origin from 2026 are eligible to receive up to 350,000 kronor ($38,000).

Sweden granted a total of 79,684 residence permits in 2025, six percent for asylum-related reasons, compared with 18 percent in 2018, when 133,025 permits were issued, according to the Swedish Migration Agency.

And 8,312 people left Sweden to return to their country of origin in 2025.

More reforms are planned for the coming year, and the government intends to move quickly ahead of the parliamentary elections on September 13, 2026.

The government is looking into the possibility of revoking Swedish citizenships from dual nationals under certain conditions, such as criminal convictions.

It is also mulling deporting migrants who do not adhere to "honest living," which critics argue remains too vague and still needs to be properly defined.

Several European countries have tightened immigration policies over the past years and the European Parliament in December approved texts aimed at tightening the continent's migration policy.