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In depth · Ale

Immigration and foreign background in Ale

Key facts

  • Ale ranks 54 of 290 municipalities for Share of residents with a foreign background (2025).

    Source: SCB BE0101Q2 · 2025

  • Ale ranks 6 of 49 in Västra Götalands län for Share of residents with a foreign background (2025).

    Source: SCB BE0101Q2 · 2025

Latest statistics: 2024–2025 depending on indicator

Ale: 8,856 residents (27.2%) had a foreign background in 2025, out of 32,620 residents. Source: Statistics Sweden. Sweden, foreign background: 27.7%; difference −0.5 percentage points (2025). 6,160 residents were born abroad (18.9%, 2025).

Foreign background means born abroad or born in Sweden to two foreign-born parents. These are population stocks, not annual immigration flows.

Location of the municipality in Sweden

Last updated: View changelog

Ale in brief

Share with foreign background, 2025
27.1 %
Change 2002–2025
+12.0 pp
Absolute change in percentage points.
Sweden, 2025
27.7 %
Difference: −0.6 pp.
Rank (highest share = 1)
54 of 290
Same definition and year (2025) for all ranked municipalities.

Source: Statistics Sweden (SCB), BE0101Q2 — observed population composition (stock). People received further down are a flow and measure something else. Stock vs flow

Trend 2002–2025

Share of the population in Ale with a foreign background. Source: Statistics Sweden (SCB), BE0101Q2. The 2025 observation uses the CKM disclosure-control method.

0%20%40%60%80%100%20022005200820112014201720202023Foreign background
Foreign background — 2002: 15.2 %; 2003: 15.4 %; 2004: 15.8 %; 2005: 16.0 %; 2006: 16.2 %; 2007: 16.8 %; 2008: 17.2 %; 2009: 17.6 %; 2010: 17.7 %; 2011: 18.0 %; 2012: 18.3 %; 2013: 18.6 %; 2014: 19.1 %; 2015: 19.6 %; 2016: 20.6 %; 2017: 21.8 %; 2018: 22.8 %; 2019: 23.8 %; 2020: 24.5 %; 2021: 25.1 %; 2022: 26.0 %; 2023: 26.4 %; 2024: 26.8 %; 2025: 27.1 %
How to verify this figure
Source
Statistics Sweden (SCB)
Period
2025
Definition
Share of the population with a foreign background (born abroad, or born in Sweden with two foreign-born parents).
Geography
Ale
Unit
%
Retrieved/verified
2026-10-11
  1. Open the original source and find the same table or report.
  2. Select the same period, geography and unit as above.
  3. Compare the definition — for own calculations, recompute with the formula.

Changelog

Country/region of birth (2024)

Residents by region of birth, 2024. This block uses 2024 data and may differ in year from the introduction above. Foreign-born are persons born outside Sweden. Source: Statistics Sweden (SCB), FolkmRegFlandK.

Country of birth
2024
Foreign-born residents
6,098 people
18.7% of the population · 2024
Foreign-born = born outside Sweden (narrower than "foreign background").
Born in Sweden81.3 %(26,478)
Nordics excluding Sweden2.4 %(765)
Other Europe6.0 %(1,970)
Outside Europe10.3 %(3,363)
Thin line = national average. Source: Statistics Sweden (SCB), FolkmRegFlandK.

People received, vulnerable areas & marginal cost

Received 2020–2024 (a flow), the Police's vulnerable areas and a own illustrative scenario.

Reception & illustrative scenario
2020–2024
Foreign-born (20–64)
25.0 %
Received, 5 years
221
6.8 / 1000 (national 7.0)
Vulnerable areas
—
Swedish Police 2025
Scenario / resident / yrAnalysis/model
−100 kr
Range −72 kr → −128 kr
Model: Ruist (ESO 2018:3; calculations based on 2015 public finances), unadjusted amount from the report (low/mid/high)

Analysis/model Own illustrative scenario: mean annual reception 2020–2024 × Ruist’s national refugee life-cycle estimate using 2015 public finances, divided by 2024 population; no price adjustment. Assumes the national estimate applies locally. Not an observed municipal cost; not everyone with a foreign background. Formula, assumptions and limitations

No vulnerable areas in this municipality according to the Swedish Police situational report 2025.
Compare Ale with other municipalities →

Compare Ale with other municipalities

Ale is preselected. Add up to 5 other municipalities — or use the shortcuts for the top/bottom 5.

  • Ale27.1 %
0%20%40%60%80%100%20022005200820112014201720202023Ale
Ale — 2002: 15.2 %; 2003: 15.4 %; 2004: 15.8 %; 2005: 16.0 %; 2006: 16.2 %; 2007: 16.8 %; 2008: 17.2 %; 2009: 17.6 %; 2010: 17.7 %; 2011: 18.0 %; 2012: 18.3 %; 2013: 18.6 %; 2014: 19.1 %; 2015: 19.6 %; 2016: 20.6 %; 2017: 21.8 %; 2018: 22.8 %; 2019: 23.8 %; 2020: 24.5 %; 2021: 25.1 %; 2022: 26.0 %; 2023: 26.4 %; 2024: 26.8 %; 2025: 27.1 %

Max 6 municipalities. Source: SCB BE0101Q2 (UtlSvBakgGrov). · Ale

Ale vs nearby municipalities

Nearest municipalities (distance between municipal centre points) and municipalities in the same county with a similar share, plus county and national averages. Not all share a border with the municipality.

Västra Götalands län

Share 2025
28.0 %
Δ 2015→2025
+5.7 pp
Immigration page

Sweden

Share 2025
27.7 %
Δ 2015→2025
+5.5 pp
Immigration page

Ale

Share 2025
27.1 %
Δ 2015→2025
+7.5 pp
Immigration page

Foreign background, all ages/sexes. County and national shares: own ratios of SCB published geographic counts; change 2015–2025 in percentage points. CKM method break 2025; subgroup cells may not sum to the published total. SCB

Most common countries of birth in Ale

Links to the national page for each country of birth. Source: SCB BE0101E.

Municipal election 2026

Final · Source: Valmyndigheten
Turnout
83.09 %
Seats
51
Valid votes
20,267
Blank votes
252
Result per party, municipal council election 2026
PartySharevs 2022Seats
30.16 %–15
21.24 %–11
18.50 %–9
8.83 %–5
6.32 %–3
5.10 %–3
3.35 %–2
3.29 %–2
2.09 %–1
Other parties (13)1.13 %––

Latest actual election: 13 September 2026 (final count). Turnout figures in Kolada series elsewhere on this page refer to an earlier election and are labelled with their series year.

Full municipal election result →Results by voting district →

Earlier election results in Ale (2014–2022)

Open Ale on the mapAll 290 municipalities →

Everything about Ale

Schools, crime, economy, tax rate and elections are on the municipality's main page.

Open Ale municipality in figures →

Frequently asked questions

›What share of the population in Ale has a foreign background?

In 2025, 27.2 % of the population in Ale had a foreign background according to Statistics Sweden (BE0101Q2) — 0.6 percentage points below the national average (27.7 %). "Foreign background" is the broader Statistics Sweden definition and includes both people born abroad and people born in Sweden to two foreign-born parents. The share is a stock measure and does not show annual immigration (inflow).

›How many residents of Ale have a foreign background?

8,856 residents of Ale had a foreign background (2025). Source: Statistics Sweden, UtlSvBakgGrovCKM, published count. CKM-protected component cells need not sum exactly to the published total.

›How has the share with a foreign background in Ale changed since 2002?

The share has risen from 15.2 % (2002) to 27.2 % (2025), a change of +12.0 percentage points. Source: Statistics Sweden (SCB), BE0101Q2.

›What is the difference between "foreign background" and "born abroad"?

Born abroad = a person born outside Sweden. Foreign background = born abroad, or born in Sweden to two foreign-born parents. Both measures are official; foreign background is at least as large for the same population and year.

›Where were the foreign-born residents of Ale born?

See the "Country/region of birth" section on this page. Foreign-born residents are people born outside Sweden, reported in three aggregated groups: the Nordic countries excluding Sweden, the rest of Europe, and outside Europe. Source: Statistics Sweden (SCB), FolkmRegFlandK.

Sources and method

  • BE0101Q2Foreign/Swedish background — share by municipality (UtlSvBakgGrov)

    Reference period: 2002–2025 · Retrieved: 2026-10-11

    Open source ↗
  • FodelselandArKCKM / FolkmRegFlandKCKM; history FodelselandArKPopulation by region, region/country of birth and sex

    Reference period: 2000–2025 · Retrieved: 2026-10-11

    Open source ↗
  • BE0101N1Population by municipality, age, sex and year (31 Dec)

    Reference period: 2002–2025 · Retrieved: 2026-08-13

    Open source ↗
  • ME0104General elections — votes per party and municipality (Election Authority via SCB)
    Open source ↗

Each figure on this page is traceable to the dataset listed above. Missing data is left out — never shown as zero. Definitions, model and sources