Mosques — from 12 to 360 in 35 years

In 1990 Sweden had around a dozen mosques. By 2024 the figure is ≈ 360 — more than in any other Nordic country and more than Sweden's active free-church congregations.

Memory

In 35 years the number of mosques has grown ≈ 30×. Active Church-of-Sweden parishes have roughly halved.

1990

≈ 12

SST / research

2024

≈ 360

SST + Hammer

The data clash

Utopia vs Reality

How to read this

“The data clash” is the gap between the utopia — the image of Sweden as one of the world's best, safest and most equal countries — and the reality in the statistics. The charts below show what the numbers actually say, not what we wish they said.

Antal registrerade muslimska församlingar och moskéer i Sverige, 1990–2024 (SST + Hammer)

SST + Hammer 2024

199020072024

Human consequence

Persona

A municipal planner.

Then

Religious infrastructure meant churches and chapels.
Planning applications for mosques happened once a decade.
Cemeteries were planned around Christian tradition.

Now

Mosque applications are recurring items in several municipalities.
25+ municipalities have added Muslim burial grounds.
Funding from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey has been reviewed by the security services in several cases.

The Nordics — same metric

Registrerade moskéer / muslimska församlingar — Norden

Method & uncertainty

Definitions

— SST registrerar trossamfund som tar emot statsbidrag. Räkningen inkluderar källarmoskéer som registrerats hos kommun.

Uncertainties

— Inget komplett moskéregister finns. Antalen är sammanställda från SST, kommuners byggnadsnämnder och oberoende forskning (Hammer 2024).

Sources

2035

What does the religious map look like in 2035 if the construction rate continues?

Linear extrapolation: ≈ 500 mosques by 2035 — more than the ≈ 450 active Swedish free-church congregations today.

Read the full investigation of how Sweden has changed.

Back to overview →