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When can you buy alcohol in Sweden before New Year’s Eve?

Planning to buy a bottle of bubbles for New Year's Eve? Make sure you're aware of Systembolaget's opening hours.

Published: 20 December 2023 11:56 CET
Updated: 30 December 2023 08:19 CET
buying champagne at systembolaget
It's likely that Systembolaget stores will be busy in the run-up to Christmas and New Year's. Photo: Bertil Ericson/Scanpix

In Sweden, the state-owned Systembolaget chain has a monopoly on over-the-counter sales of drinks with strong alcohol content.

It is likely that stores will be much busier than usual, with long queues and less availability throughout the day as everyone rushes to stock up.

Due to Christmas and New Year’s mainly falling on weekends in 2023, this season’s opening hours don’t significantly differ from normal opening hours, but there are some changes to be aware of.

Here’s a full list of opening hours:

Friday, December 29th: Open until at least 7pm, but some of the bigger stores will be open until 8pm

Saturday, December 30th: Open until 3pm

Sunday, December 31st (New Year’s Eve): Closed

Monday, January 1st (New Year’s Day): Closed

After that, Systembolaget will be back to regular opening hours with the exception of Epiphany on January 6th, when it will be closed.

What to do if you miss it?

If you live in Malmö or Helsingborg, you can always pop over to Denmark, where you can buy wine, spirits and strong beer in any supermarket.

Otherwise, you can buy low- or no-alcohol beer and cider at most supermarkets and small newsagents or corner shops, or you’ll just have to do without.

Member comments

  1. Systembolaget will be closed on Monday, January 1st, and will NOT be open as stated above.

    Systemet’s website:
    “Måndag 1 januari (nyårsdagen): Stängt”

    Cheers
    Tony

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For members

SHOPPING

Why North Korean hackers could leave Sweden short of alcohol this weekend

If you're thinking of quitting the booze, now may be a good time, as Sweden may run low on alcohol in just a few days.

Published: 24 April 2024 09:33 CEST
Updated: 24 April 2024 11:10 CEST
Why North Korean hackers could leave Sweden short of alcohol this weekend

The reason? Problems down the distribution chain, as a result of a ransomware attack by a North Korean hacker group on Skanlog, a logistics firm that delivers to Sweden’s state-run alcohol monopoly Systembolaget, reports business site Dagens Industri.

Systembolaget confirmed to The Local that this may have a knock-on effect on supplies.

“This is one of our distributors, they deliver up to 25 percent of the alcohol. But we do have other suppliers as well, we have to scale up the deliveries. So I cannot say exactly what the shortage will look like in the stores,” Systembolaget press officer Sofia Sjöman Waas said.

Not only the weekend is coming up, but also Walpurgis Night on April 30th, a popular party day in university towns.

“It is too early to say what will happen. Small stores around the country have one delivery once a week and this might not affect you at all. Other stores have deliveries every day,” Sjöman Waas told The Local.

It’s unlikely that shelves will run completely dry, but some products – mostly wine, but also beer and liquor – may be out of stock.

“But in general our consumers don’t buy a lot. They come in, they buy a couple of bottles, and they consume it within a couple of days or a week,” said Sjöman Waas.

Article by Emma Löfgren and Gearóid Ó Droighneáin

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