The leader of the far-right anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats is calling for a referendum on EU membership, hoping for a 'Swexit' result.

Jimmie Åkesson, 39, branded the EU 'a large web of corruption', and said Sweden should hold a referendum after the general elections this September.

The Sweden Democrats is currently the second biggest party in the Scandinavian nation, boosted by the European migrant crisis which saw Sweden take in more refugees per capita than any other EU country.

Swift Swexit: The leader of the far-right Sweden Democrats Jimmie Åkesson - currently second in the polls - has called for a Swedish EU referendum

'The EU is a large web of corruption where no one has control over anything,' Åkesson told Dagens Industri.

'We pay an enormous amount of money and get overwhelmingly little back. But the main reason is ideological: we should not be in an ideological union.'

At the moment, Sweden's annual EU fees are 40million kronor (£3.4million), a figure which is set to increase by 15 million kronor (£1.28million) as the European Commission tries to plug the hole in the budget left by Brexit.

Sweden joined the EU in 1994 after a close-call referendum saw 52.3 per cent vote 'yes' and 46.8 per cent vote 'no'. However, Swedish support for staying in the EU is stronger than ever in the wake of Brexit.

Some 57 per cent of Swedes say leaving the EU would be a bad idea, and just 17 per cent say it would be a good one, according to The Local.

Don't like EU: Åkesson branded the EU 'a large web of corruption', and said Sweden should hold a referendum after the general elections. Pictured is the capital Stockholm

In addition, Åkesson's demand for an EU referendum has been slammed by other Swedish politicians.

'There is no individual decision which could be as dangerous to Sweden as this,' said Ulf Kristersson, the leader of the Moderates Party.

The Sweden Democrats has been gaining on the two main parties in Sweden - the Moderates and the Social Democrats - in the run-up to the September 9 elections.

A recent poll by SVT/Novus puts Åkesson and Sweden Democrats at 21.9 per cent of the vote, not far behind the governing Social Democrats.

Hot debate: Sweden has registered 400,000 asylum applications since 2012, the number per capita of any EU nation. Pictured is a pro-migration demonstration in Stockholm in 2015

The left-wing Social Democrats, which has lost one-fourth of its voters since the 2014 election, polled at 23.8 per cent, and the right-wing Moderates at 21.1 per cent.

The Sweden Democrats, which has its roots in neo-Nazi groups and is staunchly anti-immigrant was recently found to be the biggest party among male voters, with 26 per cent of support among Swedish men.

The Scandinavian country has registered 400,000 asylum applications since 2012 - or one for every 25 inhabitants, a record in Europe - with a peak of 162,000 applications in 2015.

To contain the refugee influx, the government has re-established border controls and toughened conditions for granting asylum, residence permits and family reunification.