A Swedish minister has admitted she was wrong after claiming the number of sex attacks in the country had decreased.

Integration minister Ylva Johansson claimed in a television interview that the number of rapes in Sweden was 'going down, and going down, and going down'.

The remarks came after former UKIP leader Nigel Farage claimed last month that the city of Malmo was 'the rape capital of Europe due to EU migrant policies.'

But days later it emerged that, despite a 12 per cent dip in 2015, the number of sex attacks had in fact climbed 13 per cent in 2016.

Integration minister Ylva Johansson claimed in a television interview that the number of rapes in Sweden was 'going down, and going down, and going down'

Johansson acknowledged her error in a statement to the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.

'I based my answer on information that I had at the time, that the number of reports of rapes went down in 2015.

'It was wrong of me to speak of a development that was only based on one year. The preliminary figures for 2016 unfortunately show that the figures are on the rise. It’s important to be correct, of course.'

Johansson had earlier claimed that the number of rapes in Sweden was falling as she defended the country's immigration policy in an interview with the BBC.

The remarks came after former UKIP leader Nigel Farage claimed last month that the city of Malmo was 'the rape capital of Europe due to EU migrant policies'

When asked about the impact of granting residency to 150,000 refugees last year, she insisted: 'We cannot see a connection between crime and immigration.'

Asked specifically about sex attacks and Farage's comments, she added: 'When we make surveys about if any woman has been... if there has been a rape towards her or sexual harassment, we can see that the level is going down, and going down and going down.'

According to The Local, the number of reported rapes has gone up from 4,208 in 2006 to 6,560 in 2016.

But it cites the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention as saying that this may have been the result of legislative changes which broadened the definition of rape.