Little is known as to whether the declining trend in cardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary heart disease (CHD) in the Western countries has reached the immigrant populations. Incidence rates of CVD and CHD between 1991-1993 and 1997-1999 were compared by analysing the relative risk (RR) using the Poisson regression model and the data from 1991-1993 within each group as a reference. The whole Swedish population aged 35-74 years was included and we focused on 12 different immigrant groups. The morbidity from CHD in men from Sweden, Finland and countries in the OECD decreased slightly in an age-adjusted model (RR: 0.91, 0.93, and 0.88, respectively) during the 1990s. The opposite results were observed in women from Southern Europe, Turkey and Iran, in whom CHD morbidity increased (RR: 1.35, 1.54 and 1.40, respectively). The declining trend in CVD and CHD is continuing among men from Sweden, Finland and the OECD countries, but it is unchanged for women from these countries and all other groups studied, and even with increases in some female groups. This might be a sign of a breaking trend in these diseases.