The report is based on two surveys, one from 2020 and the other from 2025. The results show that more Swedes than before now agree with anti-Semitic claims.
At the same time, fewer people clearly distance themselves from such claims.
“Worrying”
For example, only 41 percent fully or partially agree with the statement that it would be acceptable to have a Jew as prime minister. That is a decrease of nine percentage points compared to 2020.
“It is worrying,” says report author Henrik Bachner.
According to the report, anti-Semitism exists in all parts of the population, but it is more visible in some groups than others.
This applies, among other things, to older age groups and to people with certain religious or party affiliations.
Social media
The report does not identify any single reason for the change in attitude, but Henrik Bachner points out that it could be a combination of several factors.
Among other things, he mentions the increased anti-Semitism noted after the attack on Israelis on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza.
“But we also point to the importance of social media in spreading and reinforcing anti-Semitism.”
In its latest study from 2025, the Forum for Living History also examined Swedes' attitudes towards various far-right conspiracy theories. For example, 10 percent responded that they fully or partially agreed with the claim that a "people exchange" is taking place in Sweden.
“It would be interesting to follow what that relationship looks like over time,” says Henrik Bachner.
The report "Antisemitic attitudes in Sweden" is based on two surveys, which were conducted in 2025 and 2020.
The report examines three different forms of anti-Semitism:
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Social distancing towards Jews. Example question: "Would it be acceptable to have a Jew as prime minister?" In this category, sympathizers with the Sweden Democrats exhibit a higher level of social distancing towards Jews than supporters of other parties, according to the report.
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Traditional and Holocaust-related anti-Semitic beliefs (called the "multidimensional anti-Semitism index" in the report). This includes beliefs that Jews as a group have great power and control over the world economy, media and politics. In this category, according to Bachner, people of Muslim faith are more likely to harbor anti-Semitic attitudes than people without religious affiliation.
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Anti-Semitism in relation to Israel. This examines attitudes in a context concerning Israel. Example of a question: “Because of Israel's policies, I feel increasingly bad about Jews.”
The method differs between the two surveys. The one conducted in 2020 was a panel survey based on the opinion research firm Novus Sverigepanel. 3,507 people aged 18–79 participated, and the data were weighted to reflect the composition of the population.
The second survey was conducted by Statistics Sweden (SCB) and sent to 30,259 Swedes aged 18–74.
Source: Living History Forum.
