The number of people receiving residence permits in Sweden is still at a very high level, reports SVT Nyheter.

The red-green Swedish government sharpened the immigration policy in the autumn of 2015, as a response to the historically large influx of asylum seekers to Sweden. But the tightening has so far not affected the number of residence permits granted in the country to a particularly large extent.

Up until November of this year, 50,100 residence permits for asylum seekers and relatives have been granted, according to statistics from the Swedish Migration Board. The full-year figures will be even higher.

The figure is somewhat lower than last year, but still historically high.

“We have granted high amounts of residence permits, and it is natural given how many people have come to Sweden in recent years, especially in 2015,” says Fredrik Söderberg Bruce in the Migration Board’s information department to SVT.

Next year, the Migration Board expects to issue up to 43,000 residence permits.

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today