This page contains information on statutory alcohol marketing regulations in Sweden (table 1); a description of the restrictions per medium (table 2); labelling information (table 3); information on self-regulations on alcohol marketing regulations (table 4); the complaints procedure; a summary about the Swedish regulations on alcohol marketing and exhaustive, downloadable document from the ELSA research project.
Updated February 2022
Table 1 | Statutory Alcohol marketing regulations in Sweden | Coverage |
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Alkohollagen (The Alcohol Act, EN (draft) version) | Rules in the Alcohol Act apply to all sorts of marketing (including alcoholic beverages as gifts in connection with marketing). It applies also to alcoholic beverages > 2,25% VOL. (The ban for alcoholic drinks > 15% VOL only applies to commercial advertisements in periodical publications or other publications on which the press law is applicable, and which, with respect to the order of release, are comparable to periodicals.) | |
Radio-och TV-lag (Radio and Television Act 17 June 2010) | TV, radio |
Table 4 Self-regulations on Alcohol marketing in Sweden | Coverage |
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Rekommendation avseende reklam för alkoholhaltiga drycker och alkoholhaltiga lättdrycker (Older version in English: Recommendation regarding advertising for alcoholic beverages and alcoholic light drinks, by the Association of Swedish Advertisers, The Swedish Brewer´s Association and Swedish Spirits & Wine Suppliers). | The Recommendation covers manufacturers’ marketing of alcoholic drinks to consumers, with the exception of marketing that is directed directly to consumers outside Sweden or marketing that falls outside Swedish jurisdiction. The Recommendation contains interpretations of the rules in The Alcohol Act. |
Current scientific articles about alcohol regulations in Sweden:
- A recent study by CAN in Sweden on youth and social media. Study that explores how young people in Sweden manage to buy alcohol through social media and therefore circumvent the monopoly and age checks.
- A state inquiry from 2018 that suggest a ban of alcohol marketing in social media in Sweden. The law has not yet been proposed. The inquiry contains some evaluations of the current alcohol law.
- Study on compliance of the industry – Study of the compliance from industry on Swedish marketing regulations as well as self-regulation.
For more (but older) information on alcohol marketing regulations in Sweden, please take a look at Sweden’s appendix to the 2007 ELSA (Enforcement of national Laws and Self-regulation on advertising and marketing of Alcohol) report.
For more information about alcohol monopolies: https://www.shaap.org.uk/blog/332-alcohol-monopolies.html.
For more information on alcohol marketing regulations in Sweden contact Emil Juslin (European Policy Officer, IOGT-NTO) emil.juslin@iogt.se