The heavily migrant-populated Swedish city of Malmö has grown by almost 6,000 people in the last year and authorities say the main reason for the growth is mass migration.

Five years ago the population of Malmö in southern Sweden passed the 300,000 mark and today hovers around 320,000. In the last year, the number increased by 6,000 and authorities say the driving force behind the increase is mass migration, predominantly from Middle Eastern nations, Sydsvenskan reports.

5,920 individuals settled in Malmö last year and according to the statistics around 3,892 of these people were immigrants from either Iraq or Syria.

In addition to the new arrivals, the city also experienced significant emigration. Around 1,510 Danes moved away from Malmö in 2016 while only 1,040 arrived in the city, shrinking the total number of Danes living in the city which is just across the border from Denmark.

Besides immigration, the rest of the population increase was made up by a so-called baby boom in the city. 5,120 children were born in Malmö in 2016 while some 2,471 people passed away.

The population increase is one of the largest in Malmö since 1969 according to Peter Karpestam, community strategist for Malmö.

A total of 15,970 residents of the city left for neighbouring municipalities, most of them being families, Karpestam said. “We have a negative net migration to neighbouring municipalities. There are many families who choose to move. One might suspect that they move to homes because they want to have a garden,” he noted.

Teachers have also been leaving in recent months due to the strain caused by mass migration. One in six teachers left the city between January and October of last year.

The explosion of crime could have also influenced families leaving the city over the last few years. Already this year, police have vowed to tackle the warring gangs in the city after a 16-year-old boy was gunned down in January.

Only days after U.S. President Donald J. Trump spoke about the situation in Sweden, a live hand grenade was found in a park in the city. Police say they were looking for a weapon in connection with a shooting in the same area but don’t believe the grenade had anything to do with the shooting leading to speculation from many of what the object was doing there.

Less than a week later, a hand grenade was thrown in a residential area of the city’s Lindängen suburb injuring a man. The victim had to receive treatment at a nearby hospital for shrapnel wounds to his leg.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson@breitbart.com