Religion in Sweden

3. Secular Swedes

Rituals aside, Sweden is a highly secular nation and almost half of Swedes say that religion is 'not at all important', according to a survey by Pew Research Center. It seems Sweden is one of the least religious countries in the world, along with countries such as the Czech Republic, France, Japan, Australia, UK and the Netherlands. Only about two in ten Swedes say that religion is 'somewhat important' or 'very important', compared with, for example, seven in ten Americans.

Not all Swedes are comfortable with the at times prominent cultural role of the church either, and many people pursue alternative forms of ritual. For example, only about 23 per cent of weddings are officiated by the Church of Sweden today. In 1970, that figure was 80 per cent.

There are also non-religious ‘name-giving’ ceremonies (namngivningsceremonier) for infants, with the aim of celebrating the arrival of a new child without the religious overtones of a christening.

4. Other big religions in Sweden

While membership of the Church of Sweden is declining, recent years have seen the membership of other churches and religions increase. It should be noted, however, that reported numbers on religious affiliations in Sweden are estimates only, since Swedish law forbids the registration of people on the basis of their religion.

Next to the Church of Sweden, the most prominent Christian churches are the Free Churches (frikyrkor). Although also Protestant, the Free Churches are independent of the Church of Sweden and are characterised by Evangelical, Pentecostal, Methodist and Baptist elements.

Sweden's Jewish community is estimated to consist of 15,000–20,000 people. The Jews are one of Sweden's five official national minorities and Yiddish one of the officially recognised minority languages.

Today, Muslims make up the largest non-Christian religious group in Sweden.

Increased immigration has contributed to greater religious diversity overall. The Catholic Church in Sweden reports increased membership and cites immigrants as a primary source. And then there are many country-specific Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, of which the Serbian Orthodox and the Syrian Orthodox are the largest.

5. Judaism in Sweden

When Jews started settling in Sweden at the end of the 17th century, Sweden demanded that they convert to Christianity, more specifically Lutheranism. Then, at the end of the 18th century, a Jewish man named Aaron Isaac came to Sweden from Germany. Isaac went on to found a Jewish congregation in Stockholm. In 1870, Jews were granted full civil rights.

During the 20th century, many Jews came to Sweden from Russia, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Hungary, former Czechoslovakia and Poland. In 1951, Sweden implemented freedom of religion, which meant that Jews no longer needed to be members of a Jewish community.

Today's Jewish congregations and synagogues include the three main branches of Western Judaism: Reform, Conservative and Orthodox.

6. Islam in Sweden

Ever since the middle of the 20th century, the number of Muslims in Sweden has grown, mainly through immigration. Among the most important regions of origin for people with Muslim backgrounds are south-east Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa.

Today, some ten different Islamic faith organisations exist on a national level, along with several hundred local congregations throughout Sweden. A wealth of different confessional and theological branches are represented among these (for example, Shia, Sunni, Ahmadiyya and various Sufi branches).

There are some purpose-built mosques in Sweden, but also many other places of prayer, so-called basement mosques.

7. Church finances and faith support

To help finance its international and domestic activities, the Church of Sweden levies a fee (kyrkoavgift) on its members. The fee currently averages around 1 per cent of members’ income. The church’s spending priorities include maintaining and renovating the around 3,700 church buildings belonging to it throughout Sweden

The Church of Sweden has assets of SEK 45 billion (as of 2021), mostly buildings and land. In keeping with the Swedish practice of transparency and openness in public organisations and institutions, the public can scrutinise the activities and finances of the Church of Sweden in its Annual Report (pdf, only in Swedish).

Other faith communities can receive state support to help with their finances. The Swedish agency for support to faith communities (Myndigheten för stöd till trossamfund) is a government authority that provides financial help to faith communities other than the Church of Sweden. The aim of this support is to help faith groups ensure the sustainability of their activities and services.

8. The Church of Sweden and equality

In 1960, the first women priests were ordained in the Church of Sweden. Today half of the priests are women, and women make up the majority of those studying to become priests. And between 2014 and 2022 the archbishop – i.e. the chief representative of the Church of Sweden both nationally and internationally – has been Antje Jackelén, the first woman in Sweden to hold that post.

Equality is a cornerstone in Sweden. And the Church of Sweden has often accompanied liberal social change rather than obstructing it. For example, in 2009 Sweden legalised same-sex marriage and the church decided to begin performing same-sex marriage ceremonies the same year.

9. From Nordic gods to Catholic converts…

The beginning of the religious experience in Sweden is often traced back to pre-Christian Norse religion. Norse beliefs formed the basis not for an organised religion, but rather for an overarching cultural system. Central to the practice of Norse beliefs were ‘rites’, among them the ritual sacrifice of animals, and sometimes even humans! At these gatherings, food and drink were shared in communion with the gods and omens for greater prosperity were sought. Odin and Thor, probably the most well-known Norse deities, were the gods responsible for the likes of war and the sky, respectively.

Norse beliefs persisted until the 12th century, and Sweden was the last Scandinavian country to be Christianised by Catholic missionaries. In 1164, it became a so-called ecclesiastical province of the Catholic Church and Catholicism became firmly established. Sweden contributed its fair share of saints, with Saint Bridget of Sweden being the most famous. Swedes even participated in their own versions of the famed Catholic Crusades by embarking on various expeditions to Christianise Finland and the Baltic states.

10. … and from Protestant pre-eminence to religious freedom

While Swedes may have become conscientious Catholics by the Late Middle Ages, the country would later become known as a bastion of Protestantism. Sweden completed its transformation from Catholic to Protestant by the end of the 1500s. During the subsequent period, the state identified itself closely with the new Lutheran religion and punished deviation from state-sanctioned beliefs. Until 1858, conversion to Catholicism could be punished by exile. In the 1600s, Swedish King Gustav II Adolf even led Sweden to war in the Thirty Years’ War in Germany, ostensibly to defend the Protestant faith.

Despite this draconian past, Sweden has become a country that today favours religious freedom. Since 1951, freedom of religion has been enshrined in Swedish law and studies have shown that in today’s Sweden a strong majority answer positively when asked if everyone should have the right to practise their religion freely.

Traditional yet new-thinking, secular yet religious, tolerant yet challenging – it all holds true for Sweden.