Swedish Culture

Population Statistics

Sweden

Population

10,536,338

[2023 est.]

Language

Swedish (official)

Official minority languages include Finnish, Sami, Romani, Yiddish and Meankieli

Religion

Church of Sweden (Lutheran) 55.7%
No Religion 36.0%
Other Protestant 3.3%
Islam 2.3%
Eastern Orthodox 1.5%
Catholic 1.2%
Other Religion 0.3%

[Swedish Agency for Support to Faith Communities, 2020]

Ethnicity

Swedish 80.3%
Syrian 1.9%
Finnish 1.4%
Iraqi 1.4%
Other 15.0%

The Swedish Government reports by country of birth. The indigenous Sami people are estimated to number between 20,000 and 40,000.

[2020 est.]

Cultural Dimensions

31

71

5

29

53

78

Australians with Swedish Ancestry

46,699 

[2021 Census, ABS]

Swedish in Australia

Population

10,847

This figure refers to the number of Australian residents that were born in Sweden.

[2021 Census, ABS]

Median Age

41

[2016 Census, ABS]

Gender

Male 40.3%
Female 59.7%

[2021 Census, ABS]

Religion

No Religion 63.1%
Lutheran 10.7%
Anglican 3.9%
Catholic 3.8%
Other Religion 15.7%
Not Stated 2.8%

[2021 Census, ABS]

Ancestry

Swedish 81.0%
Australian 7.3%
Finnish 5.5%
English 4.3%
German 3.2%

These are the top ancestry responses of Australian residents born in Sweden. Respondents were able to provide up to two answers.

[2021 Census, ABS]

Language Spoken at Home

Swedish 48.5%
English 44.9%
Arabic 0.8%
Finnish 0.5%
Other Languages 4.1%

Of those who speak a language other than English at home, 98.3% speak English fluently.

[2021 Census, ABS]

Diaspora

New South Wales 35.9%
Queensland 23.6%
Victoria 20.6%
Western Australia 10.9%
Other 8.6%

[2021 Census, ABS]

Arrival to Australia

Prior to 2000 43.5%
2001 - 2010 22.1%
2011 - 2020 31.6%

[2021 Census, ABS]

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