Swedish alcohol policy is in a state of change. During the last term of office, farm sales have been allowed, the food requirement for serving permits has been abolished and the rules for restaurateurs and catering companies have been simplified. Step by step, a rigid regulatory framework has become more permissive.
The reforms have been successful. Despite the warnings, no negative effects have been observed. Alcohol consumption continues to fall and no party is pushing for the old order to be restored. The small but clear liberalizations are here to stay. Sweden has become a little less extreme in an international perspective.
At the same time, many simple and urgent reforms remain. This shows not least the development in Finland. In the report "A toast to Finland", Timbro has reviewed the results of the more far-reaching liberalizations carried out in our eastern neighbor during the last decade. The experiences give good reason for Sweden to follow suit.
No significant change in alcohol consumption could be observed as a result of the reform
Historically, our countries have had a lot in common: strict alcohol regulation, counterbook systems and state alcohol monopolies with the task of limiting the availability of alcohol. In 2018, however, Finland began to change course. The food requirement was abolished and the rules for serving permits were simplified, much like what has now happened in Sweden. But the Finns went further and also liberalized the retail trade.
The opening hours of Finland's counterpart to Systembolaget, Alko, have been extended. The alcohol limit for beer in regular shops has been raised in stages, from 4.7 to 5.5 and later to 8 percent.
The debate before the 2018 reform was fierce. Authorities and interest organizations warned of what a liberalized alcohol law would bring. The Swedish government and Systembolaget also joined the debate, and sent a message to the EU Commission expressing concern about the proposal's negative public health effects.
What was the result then? No significant change in alcohol consumption could be observed as a result of the reform. Instead, the long-term trend of reduced drinking continued. In 2019, total consumption in Finland fell by 2.9 percent. When the alcohol limit in grocery stores was raised to 8 percent in 2024, consumption continued to decline. In the same year, Finland's total consumption fell to a lower level than Sweden's.
The reforms have also won broad support. Not even every fifth Finn wants to return to a stricter alcohol policy. In light of the successes, the next reform package was voted through this summer. Some Alko stores are already allowed to stay open on Sundays, and sales hours are to be extended further. In addition, the marketing rules are relaxed, so that domestic producers can market their alcoholic beverages digitally. The issue of also allowing wine in grocery stores is currently being investigated.
The development in Sweden and Finland is a heavy blow to the basis of the restrictive alcohol policy – the total consumption model. The notion that increased availability necessarily leads to higher consumption and thus greater alcohol damage does not fit well with the experiences from our countries.
Consumption and injuries have steadily decreased in both countries, while alcohol has become more accessible in various ways. In Sweden, availability has increased through, among other things, more serving licenses and private imports from other EU countries, and more recently also through farm sales. In Finland, the alcohol limit for sales outside the monopoly has also been raised.
The system company should remain open on Sundays and holidays, and restaurants should be allowed to deliver beer and wine to customers' homes
The Finnish experience provides further support for what previous studies have pointed out: broad restrictions on accessibility have very little effects on consumption and injuries. Drinking is not determined by whether there is strong beer at Ica.
The Swedes also understand that it is time for a more modern policy. Timbro has asked the opinion institute Aura Insight to ask 1,372 Swedes how they view the possibility of buying beer and wine respectively in regular grocery stores. A clear majority, 59 percent, are positive about being able to buy beer. Only 36 percent are negative. The support for wine in grocery stores is similar.
Interestingly, support is broadly based. It exists on both the right and the left, in big cities and smaller towns as well as in the countryside. The desire to simplify the rules and give people greater freedom thus extends across both political and geographical borders.
Support has also grown since we asked the same questions before the Tidö government's liberalisations. The realization that guardianship is not the way forward seems to have become more widespread.
Now we need to take the next step. The outdated Swedish alcohol policy must be replaced by a more pragmatic policy, where the harmful effects of alcohol are met with effective measures rather than symbolic politics. Developments in Finland have given us an unusually clear conclusion as to how a liberalization of the retail trade could turn out in Sweden as well.
In the report, we therefore propose that Sweden follows the Finnish example and allows the sale of beer and, in the long run, also wine in regular shops. The system company should remain open on Sundays and holidays, and restaurants should be allowed to deliver beer and wine to customers' homes.
It certainly cannot be ruled out that wine in ordinary shops would lead to somewhat higher consumption. But the Finnish experiences hardly support the far-reaching warnings that usually meet proposals for a freer alcohol policy. On the contrary, they show that greater freedom and better accessibility can go hand in hand with reduced drinking.
The Finns can handle beer in ordinary shops - the Swedes would do that too.
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