Public service and media: the fee, trust and local newspapers
Short answer: Since 2019 every adult with an income pays a public service fee of 1 percent of their income, at most 1,184 kronor in 2026. The TV licence was 2,400 kronor per household in 2018. SR, SVT and UR receive 9.7 billion kronor in 2026, and parliament has fixed the funding until 2033. Trust in SVT and SR is high but differs widely between voters of different parties. The number of local newsrooms has fallen from 569 in 2015 to 437 today, and 79 municipalities have no newsroom of their own. Sweden ranked fifth in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index in 2026.
More on the site: Democracy on turnout and trust in public institutions, State budget on media support among the state's other spending, Party funding on the parties' money and The countryside on services and population outside the cities. Confidence in the police, health care, the Riksdag and other institutions is on Trust and quality of life.
What public service costs an adult.
On 1 January 2019 the TV licence, paid per household with a TV, was replaced by a fee collected with income tax. It is 1 percent of taxable earned income for everyone aged 18 or over, up to a cap. The cap follows the income base amount and was lowered in 2026 because money had built up in the public service account; it did not reduce the money for the broadcasters. The chart shows the cap per person; the TV licence line is what a household with a TV paid in 2018.
| Households | 2018, TV licence | 2019, fee | 2026, fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| One adult above the cap | SEK 2,400 | SEK 1,347 | SEK 1,184 |
| Two adults above the cap | SEK 2,400 | SEK 2,694 | SEK 2,368 |
| Two adults with 100,000 kr each | SEK 2,400 | SEK 2,000 | SEK 2,000 |
| Household without a TV | SEK 0 | as above | as above |
Swedish Tax Agency, amounts and percentages for each year. TV licence 2018: Act (1989:41) on the financing of public service radio and television, as worded in SFS 2018:795. The examples are our own calculations. In 2026 the cap is reached at an income of 118,400 kronor.
What SR, SVT and UR receive.
Each year parliament decides how much of the fee money goes to the three broadcasters. During the previous licence period the funding was raised by 2 percent a year.
A new law for 2026 to 2033
On 22 October 2025 parliament adopted a new public service act and the terms for the next eight years. Funding rises by 3 percent in 2026, 2 percent a year from 2027 to 2030 and 1 percent a year from 2031 to 2033. The remit becomes technology neutral, with audio and moving images at its core, and the broadcasters must take clearer account of private media.
Govt. bill 2024/25:166, committee report 2025/26:KrU2, Act (2025:986)
The broadcasters wanted more
In the consultation Sveriges Radio asked for an increase of 3.5 percent a year, and SVT stated that it was underfunded by more than 200 million kronor a year.
Bill 2024/25:166
The terrestrial network
In June 2026 the government circulated a proposal for extra money to SVT and SR for 2026 and 2027, after other channels left the terrestrial TV network and the cost is shared by fewer.
Government, press release 30 June 2026
Parliament, committee report KrU1 for each year, million kronor in current prices.
How much Swedes trust the media.
Since 1986 the SOM Institute at the University of Gothenburg has asked how much confidence people have in public institutions. The share with very or fairly high confidence in radio and TV has long been around half, and for the daily press about a third.
The Media Academy's Trust Barometer instead asks about confidence in how individual media outlets do their job. It is measured at the start of each year.
Confidence in SVT's content in 2024, by party sympathy:
The biggest gap between voters
Confidence in SVT and SR is high among most parties' voters, but fewer than half of Sweden Democrat sympathisers have high confidence. The pattern is the same for SR.
SOM Institute, Trust in public service and attitudes to funding 2024
Trust in journalists is rising
The share with high confidence in journalists was 24 percent in 2004 and 43 percent in 2024.
SOM Institute, Swedish media trends 1995 to 2024
SOM Institute, Swedish trust trends 1986 to 2024 and Swedish trends 1986 to 2025, share with very or fairly high confidence; no survey in 1987 and 1988. Media Academy and Verian, Trust Barometer 2026.
Fewer daily newspapers and newsrooms.
Daily newspapers are counted as unique titles published at least once a week. The local newsroom is where the journalists covering the area work; one paper can have several.
Daily newspapers: Swedish Agency for the Media, annual report 2022 and the daily newspaper register 2025, read from charts; 2023 is missing. Newsrooms: Institute for Media Studies, Municipal database, number of open newsrooms on 1 January each year and today.
Press support became media support in 2024.
The state has supported daily newspapers since the 1970s. In 2024 press support was replaced by media support that can also go to news media online, on radio and on TV. The largest part is editorial support based on the cost of journalists, with a supplement for media covering poorly covered areas.
926 million kronor in 2026
The Swedish Agency for the Media granted 926 million kronor in media support for 2026: 493 million in general editorial support, 227 million in extended editorial support, 174 million in transitional support to papers that received more under the old press support and about 32 million in distribution support.
Swedish Agency for the Media, Effects of the new media support, 2026
More municipalities with targeted support
The number of municipalities where no outlet received support to cover that municipality fell from 120 in 2023 to 59 in 2026.
Swedish Agency for the Media, Effects of the new media support, 2026
The crisis support in 2020
During the pandemic 500 million kronor was paid in temporary support to media that had lost advertising revenue, hence the peak in 2020.
Swedish Agency for the Media, annual reports
Swedish Agency for the Media (formerly the Swedish Press and Broadcasting Authority), press support and media support paid, million kronor in current prices. 2018 is missing from the series and 2017 is rounded.
Municipalities without their own newsroom.
A municipality without a local newsroom can still be covered from a newsroom next door. Targeted titles are newspapers and news sites that say they cover the municipality, with or without a newsroom there. Municipalities lacking both are often called news deserts.
| Municipality | Newsrooms 2015 | Newsrooms today | Targeted titles | The newsrooms |
|---|
Institute for Media Studies, Municipal database, retrieved . Sorted with the fewest newsrooms first.
Sweden's rank in the press freedom index.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranks about 180 countries each year by how freely journalists can work. A lower rank is better. The method changed in 2022, so the years before and after are not fully comparable.
The neighbours in 2026
Norway ranked first, Denmark fourth, Sweden fifth and Finland sixth. Sweden's score was 87.61 out of 100.
RSF, World Press Freedom Index 2026
Reporters Without Borders, World Press Freedom Index. No ranking was published for 2010 and 2011 in the same series.
Threats and harassment against journalists.
There are no official annual statistics on threats against journalists in Sweden. What exists are surveys by researchers and unions, with different questions and in different years.
One in four in a year
26.5 percent of journalists had been harassed, threatened or subjected to violence during 2016, and 58 percent at some point in their career. About one in ten incidents was reported to the police.
JMG, University of Gothenburg, Journalists' safety survey 2017
Self-censorship
In a survey in 2020 and 2021, 70 percent of journalists had received insults and 23 percent had faced harassment or unlawful threats. 39 percent had avoided a topic for fear of the reactions.
Lund University and Halmstad University with the Swedish Union of Journalists, cited in Swedish Agency for the Media, Journalists' safety, 2025
A recurring survey is being studied
In November 2025 the government tasked the Swedish Agency for the Media with studying how threats against journalists can be measured regularly.
Swedish Agency for the Media, Journalists' safety, 2025
The parties' positions on public service.
Parliament voted on the money for 2026 to 2033 on 22 October 2025. M, SD, KD, L and S voted yes, V, C and MP no. The table summarises the parties' own descriptions before the 2026 election.
| Party | Position | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Sweden Democrats | Wants a narrower public service focused on the core remit, with stricter impartiality requirements, financed by tax. Has tabled a motion to study how public service affects the market. | sd.se, motion 2024/25:1336 |
| Moderates | Wants an independent public service focused on the core remit and states that funding has not been cut. | moderaterna.se |
| Christian Democrats | Wants an independent public service with a focused remit, mainly audio and video, and stable funding. | kristdemokraterna.se |
| Liberals | Wants a broad remit, independence protected in the constitution and continued tax funding. | liberalerna.se |
| Centre Party | Wants to protect an independent and accessible public service with a broad remit. Voted no to the financial framework. | centerpartiet.se, motion 2024/25:3437 |
| Social Democrats | Wants to protect public service in the constitution and give more money than the government, with dedicated funds for preparedness. Still voted yes to the framework. | socialdemokraterna.se |
| Left Party | Proposed preparedness funds of 200 million kronor for SVT, 100 million for SR and 50 million for UR, and a higher annual increase. Voted no. | Motion 2024/25:3435 |
| Green Party | Considers the money for 2026 to 2033 insufficient and wants funding that is adequate in the long term. Voted no. | Motion 2024/25:3439 |
The vote: parliament, committee report 2025/26:KrU2 item 4. The Tidö agreement between M, SD, KD and L says that public service independence shall remain and long term funding be maintained. The parties' positions after the 2026 election are not included.
Where the figures come from.
- The fee: Swedish Tax Agency, amounts and percentages. Funding: parliamentary committee reports KrU1. The act and terms: govt. bill 2024/25:166 and committee report 2025/26:KrU2. Public documents.
- Trust: SOM Institute at the University of Gothenburg and the Media Academy's Trust Barometer (Verian).
- Newsrooms: Institute for Media Studies, Municipal database. Daily newspapers and media support: Swedish Agency for the Media.
- Press freedom: Reporters Without Borders. Threats: JMG at the University of Gothenburg and the Swedish Agency for the Media.
- Parties: the parties' websites and parliament's open data.
The series were retrieved in October 2026.