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IMMIGRATION

Sweden to pay refugees up to 350,000 kronor to return home

The Swedish government has pledged to pay refugees up to 350,000 kronor to return home, increasing the current grant by over 3,000 percent.

Sweden to pay refugees up to 350,000 kronor to return home
Swedish Migration Minister Johan Forssell. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT

As of 2026, immigrants who voluntarily return to their home countries would be eligible to receive up to 350,000 Swedish kronor ($34,000), the right-wing government, which is propped up by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, said in a statement.

“We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in our migration policy,” Migration Minister Johan Forssell told reporters.

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Currently, migrants returning home can receive a maximum of 10,000 kronor per adult, or 5,000 kronor per child, with a maximum of 40,000 kronor available per family.

The scheme is only available to refugees, quota refugees, people in need of subsidiary protection, on the grounds of exceptionally distressing circumstances, or family of these groups.

“The grant has been around since 1984, but it is relatively unknown, it is small and relatively few people use it,” Ludvig Aspling of the Sweden Democrats told reporters.

Aspling added that if more people were aware of the grant and its size was increased, more would likely accept the offer.

The announcement came despite a government-appointed probe last month advising against a significant increase in the amount of the grant, saying the expected effectiveness did not justify the potential costs.

Conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson promised to counter immigration and crime after he came to power in 2022 with a minority coalition government propped up by the Sweden Democrats – which emerged as Sweden’s second-largest party with 20.5 percent in the general election.

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POLITICS

Full steam ahead for Swedish economy in new three-part budget bill

Sweden has won the fight against inflation and expects GDP to grow next year, Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson proudly proclaimed as she presented the government's budget bill for 2025.

Full steam ahead for Swedish economy in new three-part budget bill

“Going forward, the task will be to ensure that high inflation does not return, and at the same time to implement reforms and investments that build a more prosperous, safer and more secure Sweden for generations to come,” said Svantesson in a statement on Thursday morning.

The government predicts that Swedish GDP will grow 2.5 percent next year followed by 3.2 percent 2026.

Unemployment, however, is expected to remain unchanged at 8.3 percent in 2025, only beginning to drop in 2026 (7.9 percent, according to the government’s predictions, followed by 7.6 percent in 2027).

Svantesson told a press conference that a strong focus on economic growth would create jobs.

The 2025 budget, worked out in collaboration between the right-wing government coalition and far-right Sweden Democrats, is far more expansionary than the restrained budget Svantesson presented last year when Sweden was still fighting high inflation: 60 billion kronor towards new reforms rather than 39 billion kronor for 2024. Almost half, 27 billion kronor, will go towards funding lower taxes.

ANALYSIS:

Svantesson highlighted three areas in which new reforms are prioritised:

  • Strengthening household purchasing power after several years of the high cost of living putting a strain on household budgets, with reforms set to push the tax burden to its lowest level since 1980, according to the government.
  • Reinstating the “work first” principle, meaning that people should work rather than live on benefits. Some of the measures include language training for parents born abroad and increasing the number of places in vocational adult education.
  • Increasing growth, focusing on investments in research, infrastructure and electricity supply.

In the debate in parliament on Thursday, the centre-left opposition is expected to criticise the government for lowering taxes for high earners and not investing enough in welfare. 

Investments in healthcare, social care and education are significantly reduced in this budget compared to last year: down from 16 billion kronor to 7.5 billion kronor. 

Meanwhile, the hike of the employment tax credit (jobbskatteavdraget) – a tax reduction given to people who pay tax on their job income – is expected to lead to a 3,671 kronor tax cut for people on the median salary of 462,000 kronor per year.

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