Scandinavia’s Population Groups Originating from Developing Countries: Change and Integration

Scandinavia’s foreign-origin population has steadily increased over the past six decades. Migration flows into the region have been linked to societal phenomena such as growing labour demands, family reunification and the acceptance of refugees fleeing wars and political conflicts. Whereas earlier migration streams were generally expected to integrate relatively easily, concerns about the current streams are high on the political agenda.

This report is a cross-country research into selected key features of population change and the integration of population groups with roots in Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Turkey and Vietnam in Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

The research has sought to achieve three objectives. The first is to determine how and when the groups came to the three Scandinavian countries and how they have since developed. The second is to analyze two aspects of the groups’ integration, namely their participation in education and their participation in the labour market. And the final objective is to provide a brief overview of the groups’ situation in each of the three countries with regards to economic development, immigration history and policy development.