Racism and xenophobia have been reported and investigated in Sweden. Sweden has the most segregated labor market of people with foreign background in Europe, when measured against both high and low educational level by OECD statistics. According to the European Network Against Racism, skin color and ethnic/religious background have significant impact on an individual's opportunities in the labor market.
Due to increased immigration from Muslim majority countries in the 21st century, Islamophobia in Sweden has increased with anti-immigration views growing stronger in the country. The country has also recorded instances of antisemitism, which has increased in recent years because radicalized members of the increased Muslim population have targeted Jews. Several white supremacist and neo-Nazi organizations are also active in Sweden, including the Nordic Resistance Movement.
Racism
Anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism in Sweden are rooted in the history of the Swedish colonization of the Indigenous Sámi people, the Swedish slave trade, and Swedish colonialism in Africa, North America, and Asia, as well as Swedish government promotion of racist ideologies. Swedish colonization of Sámi land began in the 14th century and intensified in the 17th century when the Swedish state encouraged settlers from the south to move to the north. Due to Swedish state policy, Sámi people have historically been "denied their rights" and "the Sami identity has been defined on the basis of stigmatising and racist conceptions." Swedish colonies included the Swedish Gold Coast in what is now Ghana, the Swedish colony of Saint Barthélemy, and New Sweden in what is now Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey.
In 2021, the Church of Sweden apologized for its abuse of Sámi people over several centuries, including forcible Christianization, the mistreatment of children in Sámi schools, and collecting the remains of Sámi people for research on scientific racism and eugenics. The Church of Sweden described their "dark actions" against the Sámi as "colonial" and "legitimized repression". Prior to apologizing, the Church of Sweden had produced a 1,100 page long document in 2019 compiling the church's history of oppressing Sámi people and erasing Sámi culture.
The Swedish role in colonialism and the enslavement of Africans has been characterized as being "little known" by the general Swedish public, despite the persistence of reminders of slavery and colonialism in Swedish art, architecture, and placenames. During the 20th century, the State Institute for Racial Biology was active in promoting eugenics and scientific racism within Swedish society. In 2022, following a five day visit to Sweden, the United Nations International Independent Expert Mechanism stated that the Swedish government needed to develop strategies to address systemic racism.
Islamophobia
The report Racism and Xenophobia in Sweden by the Board of Integration state that Muslims are exposed to the most religious harassment in Sweden. Almost 40% of the interviewed said they had witnessed verbal abuse directed at Muslims. Historically, attitudes towards Muslims in Sweden have been mixed with relations being largely negative in the early 16th century, improving in the 18th century, and declining once again with the rise of Swedish nationalism in the early 20th century. According to Jonas Otterbeck, a Swedish historian of religion, attitudes towards Islam and Muslims today have improved but "the level of prejudice was and is still high." Islamophobia can manifest itself through discrimination in the workforce, prejudiced coverage in the media, and violence against Muslims.
Nazism
Sweden is home to several white supremacist and neo-Nazi organizations, including:
Swedish Resistance Movement, the Swedish branch of the Nordic Resistance Movement
Former organizations and parties include:
National Alliance
National Socialist Front
National Youth
Party of the Swedes
White Aryan Resistance
The Nordic Realm Party
Legion Wasa
The Nordic Resistance Movement has been noted as a leading neo-Nazi organization in Sweden, exporting extremism throughout Scandinavia and maintaining ties with extremist groups elsewhere in Europe, South Africa, and North America. Contemporary white supremacist groups are part of a century-long history of Nazi and neo-Nazi activism in Sweden.