Alcohol from a country outside the EU

Importation of alcohol for personal use when travelling

You may bring alcohol into Sweden tax-free when travelling from a country outside the EU if the alcohol is for personal use (or for your family) and you are personally transporting the goods into Sweden.

You must be at least 20 years of age to bring alcohol into Sweden. Also, duty- and tax-free import of alcohol to Sweden from countries outside the EU by private individuals is limited to a traveller´s allowance of certain quantities of goods. Customs duties and Swedish excise must be paid on alcohol products in quantities over the traveller´s allowance.

For travellers living in Sweden, duty- and tax-free importation only applies if:

• the traveller is arriving in Sweden on a commercial airline or
• the traveller´s trip abroad was longer than 20 hours or
• the alcohol has been taxed in the Åland Islands or Norway.

The following quantities of alcohol are included in the traveller´s allowance:

• 1 litre of liquor or 2 litres of fortified wine (including sparkling wine)
• 4 litres of wine
• 16 litres of beer

The following customs duties and excise must be paid on alcohol products in excess of the traveller´s allowance:

• Liquor: 4 SEK/litre in duties, 256 SEK/litre in tax
• Fortified wine: 2 SEK/litre in duties, 72 SEK/litre in tax
• Wine: 1 SEK/litre in duties, 32 SEK/litre in tax
• Beer over 3.5%: 3 SEK/litre in duties, 17 SEK/litre in tax

Definitions

• Liquor - beverages with an alcohol content over 22 per cent by volume
• Fortified wine - beverages with an alcohol content over 15, but not over 22 per cent by volume
• Wine - non-fortified wine and other alcoholic beverages other than beer, with an alcohol content between 3.5 and 15 per cent by volume
• Beer - beverages with an alcohol content over 3.5 per cent by volume.

Alcohol as a gift

As a private individual, you may receive single consignments containing alcohol as a gift, if it is sent from another private individual and is for your personal use.

Duty-free allowance for alcohol products is limited to

• 1 litre of liquor or
• 1 litre of fortified wine or sparkling wine and
• 2 litres of wine and
• beer in an amount that allows the total not to exceed the gift limit of 500 SEK along with the aforementioned quantities and other items included in the gift.

Tax, however, must always be paid for alcohol products. The tax for liquor, for example, is 256 SEK per litre.

If the gift contains alcohol, the total value of all the goods you receive duty-free (including for example clothes or toys) may not exceed 500 SEK.

Moving to Sweden from a country outside the EU

People moving to Sweden from a country outside the EU to settle may apply for relief from duty and tax on personal belongings.