Protesters attend a demonstration against alleged slavery in Libya, at Sergels torg in Stockholm, Sweden, 25 November 2017. [Claudio Bresciani/EPA/EFE]/ Euractiv

Voice of Europe, “Asylum seekers cost Sweden 347 billion euros during their lifetimes”, 6 June 2018:

Svenska Dagbladet journalist, Per Gudmundsson, writes that the net costs of the average refugee are higher than expected. Gudmondsson bases his opinion on a financial report that was published by Sweden’s ESO research institution earlier this week.

Gudmundsson says some immigrant groups are even more costly due to integration failures and labour costs. Therefore, the costs of a refugee or asylum seeker are higher than the previously thought, 291,000 euros (3 million crowns) during their lifetimes.

“The actual costs are higher because no direct costs have been calculated, for example, the cost of subsidised employment,” he says.

Sweden’s migrant population has grown from 690,000 in 2015 to 830,000 in 2017. The ESO report states that “Refugees who immigrate today, are expected to live 58.3 years in Sweden on average”.

During these years, an asylum seeker with an average integration potential is expected to represent a net cost to Sweden’s public finances of 7,184 euros on average per year.”

If you multiply 7,184 euros per refugee x 58.3 (average lifetime) the costs per refugee will be 418,827 euros during their lifetime in Sweden.

By multiplying this with the total number of refugees, we get the total costs for all refugees during their lifetimes:

418,827 x 830,000 = 347 billion euros or 3,580 billion Swedish crowns.

According to the report, The 58.3 years, is about the group that immigrated recently, it is unclear if this varies considerably.

Gudmundsson says this is an inefficient use of funds, which could have had a greater impact in homelands of the refugees.

Related:

Voice of Europe, “Hundreds of thousands of Swedish pensioners live in poverty, according to recent report”, 5 June 2018:

A new report published by the Swedish Pensions Agency shows that as many as 245,000 people of over the age of 65 are below the poverty threshold.

In comparison with the rest of the Nordic countries, Sweden has the highest proportion of poor pensioners (or as the Pension Agency calls it, pensioners with a “relatively low financial standard”).

In the press release, the agency wrote that “the main reason why older people do not reach the upper limit of a relatively low economic standard is that they do not have, or are not entitled to, maximum housing allowance and/or elderly support”.

Of the 245,000 people who were below the limit of relatively low economic standard in 2017, 162,000 were women.

“Women, single individuals, and the oldest in the age group over 65 are those that are at the greatest risk of falling below the income threshold for relatively low economic standards. The main reason for this is a combination of low income-based pensions and low housing costs,” says chief Pensions Agency analyst, Ole Stettergren.