Some 7,472 Iraqis arrived in Sweden last year, up 12 percent from a year earlier and more than double the number of all immigrants from the African continent, which numbered 3,541.

Meanwhile, a total of 301 Iraqis left Sweden last year.

Some 5,446 Iraqis requested asylum in Sweden in 2002, compared to 6,163 people from the former Soviet Union and 5,852 from Yugoslavia, the Swedish Migration Board said.

The Iraqi community in Sweden counts some 70,000 people, making it one of the largest Iraqi minorities in Europe in proportion to the population of the country, which is almost nine million in Sweden.

The number of immigrants to Sweden from European Union member states, excluding Nordic neighbours Finland and Denmark, totalled 5,970, while those who arrived from outside the European Union and Nordic countries totalled

In total, Sweden registed 64,087 new arrivals in 2002, including 13,266 Swedes and 10,076 nationals from other Nordic countries.

At the same time, 33,009 people left the country, giving the country a migration surplus of 31,078 arrivals, the largest number since 1994.

SPACE.WIRE