New reunification rules for immigrant families, citizenship test results and maybe, just maybe, a new government are on the cards for Sweden in October 2026.
A new government?
The Swedish parliament will open on September 29th for the year ahead. Its most crucial task will be to pick a prime minister.
A vote on the next prime minister can be held no later than two weeks after the opening of parliament, meaning by October 12th at the latest.
Sweden has a system of negative parliamentarism, which means a potential prime minister does not require even a single MP to actively vote for them. The only thing that is required is that a majority of MPs do not actively vote against them. The speaker has four attempts to put a prime ministerial candidate to a vote in parliament. If they are rejected four times, a snap election has to happen within three months after the final vote.
Results on Sweden’s citizenship test
The almost 1,000 citizenship applicants who sat Sweden’s first civics test back in August will receive their result at some point in October (the exact date has yet to be confirmed).
The pass rate for the test has not yet been decided, with the Swedish Council on Higher Education planning to decide on it based on the performance of the first cohort of examinees. For this reason, people who fail this round will be given a second chance. The council has previously told The Local that it is unlikely a second test will be held in 2026.
Tighter rules for immigrant families
A new law on family reunification comes into force on October 1st. It will increase the maintenance requirement for foreigners wishing to bring family members to Sweden, impose a new maintenance requirement for some temporary permit extensions, and introduce a two-year waiting period for foreigners bringing family members to Sweden.
The bill also contains the government’s solution to the so-called teenage deportations. Anyone who is under 21 years of age and has previously been granted a residence permit on the basis of attachment as a child, but who has turned 18, will be eligible for a residence permit.
Pricier petrol?
Sweden in spring and summer temporarily lowered taxes on petrol and diesel in two steps by a total of 4 kronor per litre including VAT, following price hikes in the wake of the Iran war.
That tax cut is set to expire this winter, which means that prices are set to increase by 1 krona on October 1st and 3 kronor on December 1st.
Sweden is currently in the process of trying to form a government after its recent election. Neither the centre-left Social Democrats nor the outgoing centre-right Moderates have ruled out extending the tax break. However, a caretaker government is generally unable to implement any major policies until it has been replaced by a permanent government, which means that its fate will depend on how long it takes Sweden to form a government.
Nobel prizes announced
On Monday, October 5th, the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology will kick off a week of announcements in Sweden, followed by the physics prize on October 6th, the chemistry prize on October 7th and the literary prize on October 8th. The final Nobel Prize, the peace prize, will be announced by the Norwegian Nobel committee in Oslo on Friday, October 9th.
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel is announced on October 12th.
The Nobel Prize ceremony takes place in Stockholm each year on December 10th, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.
Cinnamon Bun Day
Swedes love their cinnamon buns so much they even gave the baked goods their own annual day – kanelbullens dag – which is marked on October 4th each year.
The holiday was invented in 1999 by the Home Baking Council (Hembakningsrådet), a club of baking ingredient producers now run by Danish sugar company Dansukker. The company wanted to create a baking tradition in honour of its 40th anniversary. This is one of our favourite cinnamon bun recipes.
Clocks go back
Winter time will start on October 25th, lasting until March 28th, 2027.
This means that you’ll need to put your clock back an hour at 2am on Sunday October 25th (or whenever you head to bed on the 24th, if you’re not too keen on getting up early just to change your clock).
Luckily, this means you’ll get an extra hour in bed on Sunday, but the evenings will feel a lot darker after the time change.
Digital clocks on computers or phones should update automatically, but get ready to frantically search for the manual to your oven so you can figure out how to change its display on the 25th.
Halloween (kind of)
Halloween may not be as big in Sweden as it is elsewhere, but you’re likely to still see kids out on the streets dressed up around October 31st.
Although Halloween technically falls on the last day of October, many Swedish families celebrate the weekend before or the weekend after. Individual streets and housing associations often agree on a date together so that parents are prepared with sweets and decorations for any trick-or-treaters.
The custom of trick or treating is called bus eller godis in Swedish, and there’s growing consensus that children should only knock on doors which have some kind of Halloween decorations outside, even if it’s just a pumpkin on the doorstep, and respect those who do not wish to take part.
Theme parks like Gröna Lund in Stockholm and Liseberg in Gothenburg will also host Halloween events throughout October.
Diwali falls in November this year, but the Durga Puja festival, will be celebrated by Indian communities all over Sweden between October 16th and 21st. If you know of any specific events, let us know!
The festival, which celebrates Durga, one of the aspects of the Hindu mother goddess Mahadevi, is the most important festival of the year for India’s Bengali community and sees the entire city of Kolkata shut down for a ten-day carnival. But the festivities have grown in the Nordics too in recent years. The celebrations are often open to all, and are attended by people from every region of India, by Hindus from Bangladesh, and by curious Swedes.