Migration has changed Nordic societies over the past decades, enriching communities while introducing new challenges for inclusion and cohesion. Despite strong welfare systems and long traditions of equality, understanding how well migrants feel integrated socially, civically, and culturally remains a blind spot in the region’s data landscape.
A new report sheds light on how national statistical systems across the Nordics capture the “softer” sides of integration: participation in community life, trust in institutions, sense of belonging, and everyday interactions between newcomers and host populations. The findings reveal significant gaps and offer recommendations for developing more comprehensive, comparable, and policy-relevant indicators of social and civic integration.
"There are some dimensions that are easier to measure. But there is less information about measurements like feeling of belonging, discrimination, or contact with the native population. We should not assume that it is just a question of numbers—every definition of integration also defines who is not integrated, who belongs and who does not. In the report, we examine the challenges of measuring social integration and propose key recommendations," says project manager Debora Pricila Birgier.
Beyond jobs and education
Indicators are the backbone of evidence-based policymaking. Across the Nordic countries, extensive register data track migrants’ employment, education, and income. These so-called structural indicators tell an important part of the story—but not the whole picture.
“Integration is more than labour market participation or language acquisition,” the report notes. “It’s also about how people connect, participate, and feel part of society.”
While aspects such as political participation and naturalisation are relatively well documented, indicators for belonging, trust, and perceived discrimination are largely missing—or not disaggregated by migration status. Everyday integration, such as interethnic friendships, social contact, or participation in cultural or faith communities, also remains underexplored. This imbalance means that current statistical systems tend to capture the formal dimensions of integration, while overlooking the relational experiences that sustain cohesive and inclusive societies.
Going back to the basics: should integration be measured—and how?
The methodological question of measuring integration goes beyond technical considerations. It is also political and ethical: defining what “successful” integration looks like determines whose experiences are recognised or excluded. Measurement reflects institutional priorities and power dynamics—whether it serves understanding, policymaking, or comparative assessment.
Quantitative frameworks can inform policy, but they risk reducing integration to standardised indicators that fail to capture the lived, relational, and affective dimensions of inclusion—such as feeling welcome, safe, and connected. Effective frameworks should therefore demonstrate accountability to both policymakers and the communities they seek to represent, supporting policies that recognise integration as a multifaceted, reciprocal process.
Measuring what matters
Interviews with representatives from the Nordic National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) reveal both ambitions and obstacles. Resource constraints, low response rates among migrants, and linguistic or cultural barriers limit data collection. High mobility and complex residence patterns further challenge the accuracy of national registers.
Some progress is being made: for example Norway has plans to strengthen its survey approach to social inclusion. Yet across the region, the lack of harmonised definitions and methods makes cross-country comparison difficult.
Despite these gaps, the report argues that the Nordic countries are well positioned to advance. Their robust administrative data systems offer a strong foundation for expanding and linking datasets—for example, by adding variables on social relations, civic engagement, or interethnic marriage to existing registers.
Four recommendations for stronger integration measurement
- Understand integration as a multidimensional and evolving process.
- Optimise existing data sources.
- Recognise integration as a bidirectional, relational process.
- Strengthen Nordic cooperation.
From measurement to meaning
Integration is not a one-way street but an ongoing interaction between people and institutions. Better data on how migrants experience belonging and participation can help Nordic countries design policies that strengthen trust and cohesion—core values of the Nordic welfare model.
Measuring belonging is not just a technical exercise. It reflects how societies value equality, openness, and participation—and whether everyone, regardless of background, truly feels at home in the Nordics.
