Sweden Elections: Far-right are expected win big as major parties falter

The party's support was widely underestimated before the previous election and some online surveys give them as much as 25%, a result that would be likely to make them the biggest party

Swedes voted on Sunday in an election dominated by fears over asylum seekers and welfare, with the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats vying to become the biggest party in a country long seen as a bastion of liberal values.

Far-right parties have made spectacular gains throughout Europe in recent years after a refugee crisis sparked by civil war in Syria and conflicts in Afghanistan and parts of Africa.

In Sweden, the influx of 163,000 asylum seekers in 2015 has polarised voters, fracturing the political consensus and could give the Sweden Democrats, a party with roots in the white supremacist fringe, a veto over who forms the next government.

The party's support was widely underestimated before the previous election and some online surveys give them as much as 25 per cent, a result that would be likely to make them the biggest party, dethroning the Social Democrats for the first time in a century. 

"It would send a big 'go to hell' message to me and my kind," said Stefan Jovanovic, 26, a music business manager with roots in Serbia.

"Because we all know that their whole political message is about one thing and one thing only, and that is the question of immigration."

Such an outcome could weaken the Swedish crown in the short term, but analysts do not see any long-term effect on markets from the election because economic growth is strong, government coffers are well stocked and there is broad agreement about the thrust of economic policy.