Customs and daily life

Daily life

• Language: Swedish is the common language; the authorities and the state service centres also answer in English, and you are often entitled to an interpreter. The municipality offers Swedish courses for immigrants (SFI, svenska för invandrare); this training is free (skollagen, chapter 20, section 7; small one-off costs remain possible), open from the second half of the year you turn 16 if you live in Sweden and do not have the basics of Swedish, with no personnummer requirement; EU and EEA citizens and Swiss citizens may be entitled to it even without being registered in the population register (Skolverket: they are then considered residents, subject to the other conditions). Sign up with your municipality.
• First names and informal address: in Sweden, people address each other informally almost everywhere, including with their boss or a public official, and call each other by their first names (common usage, no official source).
• Fika: a moment of break and conversation over a coffee and something sweet, at home, in a café or at work. Many companies provide one or two fika a day: taking part helps you fit in.
• Lagom: neither too much, nor too little. It shows at work (efficiency without excess hours) as in social life.
• Timekeeping: people have dinner early and arrive on time, at appointments as well as invitations (common usage, no official source).
• Alcohol: the Systembolaget is 100% owned by the state and sells on a non-profit basis; it has 452 stores, 461 collection points and an online shop. It does not sell to people under 20 or to people who are drunk. Its opening hours, shorter than those of other shops, are set within the framework defined by the Riksdag (Parliament): when it is closed, it is impossible to buy alcohol in a shop elsewhere. Hours vary from one store to another: at the Rosenlundsgatan store in Stockholm, for example, it is from 10:00 to 15:00 on Saturdays and closed on Sundays (store page, October 2026); check those of your store. The monopoly covers all drinks of more than 2.25% alcohol, except beer of 2.25 to 3.5% (folköl), also sold in supermarkets from age 18 (alkohollagen, chapter 1, sections 5 and 8, chapter 3, section 7, chapter 5, section 5).
• Tipping: no obligation, service is included; rounding up is an appreciated gesture (common usage, no official source).
• Sorting waste: mandatory by law. In apartment buildings, you find bins for food waste, metal, glass, plastic and paper. Packaging, newspapers and batteries go to recycling stations; bulky items, hazardous products and electronics to the recycling centre. Never put grease, oil, paint or medicines down the sink.
• The deposit (pant): deposit cans and plastic bottles are returned in shops. The refund is the amount printed on the packaging: 2 SEK for an aluminium can or a small plastic bottle, 3 SEK for a large bottle, since the increase of September 2025 (old packaging: 1 and 2 SEK).

Nature and the allemansrätten

The allemansrätten (the right of public access to nature) lets you walk anywhere, even on private land, use private paths, pitch your tent for a night or two in the countryside, and pick berries, mushrooms and wild flowers (not in a garden). In return:

• do not cross cultivated fields, take the paths;
• do not pick protected plants and respect the rules of national parks and reserves;
• do not leave anything behind: abandoning waste is punished by a fine, even prison, and a cigarette butt can start a fire;
• light a fire only where it cannot spread (never on rock, which splits), put it out completely, and check fire bans on krisinformation.se or with your municipality.

Festivals and public holidays

Public holidays 2026 (Visit Sweden and law 1989:253): 1 January, 6 January (Epiphany), 3 April (Good Friday), 5 and 6 April (Easter), 1 May, 14 May (Ascension Day), 6 June (National Day), 20 June (St John's Day), 31 October (All Saints' Day), 25 and 26 December. Visit Sweden writes 1 November for All Saints' Day, but the law on public holidays (1989:253) sets it on the Saturday between 31 October and 6 November, so on 31 October in 2026.

• Valborgsmässoafton (30 April): big bonfires and songs to celebrate spring.
• Midsommarafton: always the Friday between 19 and 25 June (19 June in 2026). People dance around the maypole and eat herring, salmon, new potatoes and strawberries. The real day of celebration is the eve, even though the official public holiday is the Saturday.
• Easter: the eve (påskafton) is the big day; children dress up as witches and go round the neighbours for sweets.
• Lucia (13 December): Lucia and Christmas songs in schools and nurseries.
• Christmas: celebrated on 24 December, with presents (julklappar).
• All Saints' Day: on the Saturday between 31 October and 6 November, candles are lit on graves.

Useful numbers

• 112: emergencies (ambulance, police, fire brigade), 24 hours a day, in Swedish and English.
• 1177: medical advice by telephone at any hour; the 1177.se site also gives healthcare centres and your medical record (with e-legitimation). It also lists psychiatric emergency services.
• 114 14: police outside emergencies (reporting a crime after the event, asking a question).
• 113 13: national information line in a crisis (storm, flood, epidemic, major fire). Official information on krisinformation.se.

Common pitfalls

• Arriving late or unannounced. Punctuality matters, and people warn you before dropping by.
• Forgetting the Systembolaget's opening hours. They are short: plan your purchases before weekends and public holidays.
• Neglecting waste sorting. It is mandatory, and the neighbours care about it.
• Confusing allemansrätten with free camping everywhere. A night or two, far from homes, without damage: not a lasting settlement.
• Underestimating winter. Very long nights in the North; social life happens a lot indoors, and the fika is a good way to build ties.

What changes by country of origin

• Nordic citizens: close languages (Danish, Norwegian) are often understood; Finns find Finnish, a national minority language.
• All the others: English is enough at first, but Swedish quickly becomes essential for work and social life.