The Impact of Migration Flows on the Population Structure of the Northern Swedish Inland, 1900-1950

Samuel Sundvall, Umeå University, Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies
Glenn Sandström, Centre for Demographic and Ageing Research (CEDAR), Umeå University
Johan Junkka, Centre for Demographic and Ageing Research (CEDAR), Umeå University

Urbanization can have a significant impact on the demographic profile of rural regions. Large scale rural to urban migration will over time lead to an overall population decline in rural areas but has also been shown to affect other population structures such as the composition of age, gender and socioeconomic status. In Sweden the process of industrialization and subsequent urbanization began in the late 19th century, one region particularly affected by increased outward migration was the largely rural northern inland region. The overall aim of this paper is to analyse how migration flows influenced the population structure of the northern Swedish inland, 1900-1950. The study is based upon historical population data comprised of digitalised parish registers from the county of Västerbotten. The county was divided up into three regions based on occupational structure of the inhabitants: rural (consisting of all inland parishes and one coastal parish), semi-industrial rural (consisting of coastal parishes in close proximity of urban centres) and urban (consisting of the two larger coastal town parishes in the region, Umeå and Skellefteå). These regions are compared with regards to the aforementioned factors of age structure, gender composition and socioeconomic status. This longitudinal comparison will show the characteristics of the migration patterns as a result of early urbanization and how these affected long term population structures in regions with close geographical proximity but different economic structures.

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 Presented in Session 70. New Perspectives on Migration and Mobility