Historical Background
The first Swede to visit Australia was the botanist Daniel Solander, who arrived in 1770 with Captain James Cook’s first voyage.
In the 1800s, ships from Sweden regularly sailed to Australia with cargo and small numbers of immigrants. However, the number of Swedish immigrants in Australia remained low until the 1850's gold rushes.
The Victorian gold rush in 1851 attracted large numbers of Swedes, who not only worked on the gold fields in Victoria but stayed on and progressed onto farming or business.
By 1901, there were an estimated 6000 Swedes in Australia, many of whom were engaged in successful commerce. The start of a regular Swedish shipping line from 1907 further developed trade between Australia and Sweden and led to the establishment of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Sydney in 1911. Strong business and trade links between Australia and Sweden still continue.
The numbers of Swedes declined by the mid-1900s and in 1954 was around 2200 people. The community was boosted by migration through assisted passage during the 1950s, almost doubling in size by 1981 and, unlike other Scandinavia-born, the numbers of Sweden-born have continued to grow.
Today
Geographic Distribution
The latest Census in 2011 recorded 8354 Sweden-born people in Australia, an increase of 11.4 per cent from the 2006 Census. The 2011 distribution by state and territory showed New South Wales had the largest number with 2805 followed by Queensland (2015), Victoria (1755) Western Australia (959).
Age and Sex
The median age of the Sweden-born in 2011 was 40 years compared with 45 years for all overseas-born and 37 years for the total Australian population.
The age distribution showed 7.3 per cent were aged 0-14 years, 11.6 per cent were 15-24 years, 39.7 per cent were 25-44 years, 28 per cent were 45-64 years and 13.4 per cent were 65 years and over.
Of the Sweden-born in Australia, there were 3733 males (44.7 per cent) and 4621 females (55.3 per cent). The sex ratio was 80.8 males per 100 females.
Ancestry
In the 2011 Census, the top ancestry responses* that Sweden-born people reported were Swedish (6945), Australian (502) and Finnish (329).
In the 2011 Census, Australians reported around 300 different ancestries. Of the total ancestry responses*, 34 029 responses were towards Swedish ancestry.
*At the 2011 Census up to two responses per person were allowed for the Ancestry question; therefore providing the total responses and not persons count.
Language
The main languages spoken at home by Sweden-born people in Australia were Swedish (4377), English (3448) and Finnish (51).
Of the 4902 Sweden-born who spoke a language other than English at home, 97.6 per cent spoke English very well or well, and 1.4 per cent spoke English not well or not at all.
Religion
At the 2011 Census the major religious affiliations amongst Sweden-born were Lutheran (2211) and Anglican (472).
Of the Sweden-born, 41.3 per cent stated 'No Religion' which was higher than that of the total Australian population (22.3 per cent), and 5.5 per cent did not state a religion.
Arrival
Compared to 62 per cent of the total overseas-born population, 58 per cent of the Sweden-born people in Australia arrived in Australia prior to 2001.
Among the total Sweden-born in Australia at the 2011 Census, 16.9 per cent arrived between 2001 and 2006 and 21.5 per cent arrived between 2007 and 2011.
Median Income
At the time of the 2011 Census, the median individual weekly income for the Sweden-born in Australia aged 15 years and over was $685, compared with $538 for all overseas-born and $597 for all Australia-born. The total Australian population had a median individual weekly income of $577.
Qualifications
At the 2011 Census, 67.3 per cent of the Sweden-born aged 15 years and over had some form of higher non-school qualifications compared to 55.9 per cent of the Australian population.
Of the Sweden-born aged 15 years and over, 9.1 per cent were still attending an educational institution. The corresponding rate for the total Australian population was 8.6 per cent.
Employment
Among Sweden-born people aged 15 years and over, the participation rate in the labour force was 69.9 per cent and the unemployment rate was 5.8 per cent. The corresponding rates in the total Australian population were 65 per cent and 5.6 per cent respectively.
Of the 5063 Sweden-born who were employed, 57.6 per cent were employed in either a skilled managerial, professional or trade occupation. The corresponding rate in the total Australian population was 48.4 per cent.
Produced by the Community Relations Section of DIAC All data used in this summary is sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population and Housing. Sources for the Historical Background are available on our website.
© Commonwealth of Australia.
