Iraq–Sweden relations


Iraq–Sweden relations are foreign relations between Iraq and Sweden. Iraq has an embassy in Stockholm, and a new Swedish embassy opened in Baghdad in 2009.
Sweden is one of the largest donors to the protection force for UN personnel in Iraq, that was established in 2004.

Trade

Sweden has for many years had established trade relations with Iraq. During the 1980s, several large Swedish companies were present in Iraq. Many Swedish companies have hence good knowledge about the Iraqi market, and have a good reputation in the area.
The Swedish export to Iraq has during the last years mainly contained engineering products. The export to Iraq was almost SEK 444 million in 2008, of which SEK 384 million were engineering products. The Swedish import from Iraq has increased from low levels of earlier years and was about SEK 9 million in 2008.

Iraqi refugees

Since 2003, 36 700 Iraqis have applied for asylum in Sweden. The peak year was 2007 with 18 600 applications. About 50 per cent of all asylum applications from Iraqis to European countries in 2006 and 2007 were made in Sweden. Since 2003, about 38 000 Iraqis have been granted a residence permit in Sweden; more than 20 000 of these were granted after an application for asylum, more than 15 000 for the purpose of family reunion and over 1 000 for resettlement.