Unemployment insurance (a-kassa) 2026: the new rules for newcomers to Sweden

On 1 October 2025 Sweden got a new unemployment insurance. Now your previous pay and how long you have been a member of an a-kassa decide whether you get benefit, how much and for how long. For newcomers to Sweden the most important advice is simple: join an a-kassa as soon as you have started working.

An a-kassa (arbetslöshetskassa, an unemployment insurance fund) pays benefit if you lose your job. Your a-kassa assesses your application and decides. We checked the rules with IAF (the Swedish Unemployment Insurance Inspectorate), Arbetsförmedlingen (the Swedish Public Employment Service) and in the law on 10 October 2026.

The basic requirements

To get benefit you must:

• be at least 20 years old,
• be registered as a job seeker with Arbetsförmedlingen,
• look for work actively and be able to start a job straight away,
• have nothing that stops you from taking a job. For example, you must have childcare arranged if you have children, normally have finished your studies, and be in Sweden.

The income requirement: SEK 120,000 in twelve months

You must also have worked. The main rule is that in the last twelve months you have had:

• a total income of at least SEK 120,000, and
• at least SEK 11,000 a month before tax in at least four of those months.

Income means pay that your employer pays employer contributions on, and income from your own business that you pay self-employment contributions on. The a-kassa gets the details from Skatteverket (the Swedish Tax Agency). So if you work off the books, that income does not count. With an e-ID you can see in Skatteverket’s e-service what your employer has reported.

If you have been on parental leave, sick or studying full time, you may be able to count income from work further back in time. Ask your a-kassa.

How many days?

How long you can get benefit depends on how many months you earned at least SEK 11,000:

If you do not reach SEK 120,000, but have had four consecutive months with at least SEK 11,000, an alternative rule applies: 66 benefit days.

How much? Membership time decides the level

Benefit is based on your previous income, but at most SEK 34,000 a month counts. How much of it you get depends on how long you have been a member of an a-kassa:

The reference period (ramtid) is the twelve months the a-kassa looks at. At the highest level and with the highest income that counts, benefit is 80 percent of SEK 34,000, which is at most SEK 27,200 for a full month of unemployment, before tax.

The level drops over time: by 10 percentage points after 100 benefit days, and by another 5 percentage points after 200 days.

Why you should join early

Membership time only counts from the day you join. If you join only when you lose your job, you get the lowest level, 50 percent, even if you have worked for a long time. If you have been a member for at least twelve months, you can get 80 percent.

You can join once you have started working. There are a-kassor for different occupations and industries, and membership costs a fee every month. Find your a-kassa at Sveriges a-kassor (in Swedish).

If you lose your job

1. Register with Arbetsförmedlingen on your very first day without work, and say that you want to apply for benefit from the a-kassa.
2. Apply for benefit on your a-kassa’s website. If you are not a member, you can apply for membership when you become unemployed. If you do not want to become a member, you can apply for benefit from Alfa-kassan.
3. Ask your former employer to fill in an employer’s certificate (arbetsgivarintyg).
4. Benefit is paid once a month. For each month you report how much you have worked and been unemployed, and your income. Send in the monthly report at the latest three months after the month you are applying for.

If you have a work permit and lose your job, special rules for your permit apply too. Read about them in our Work tool, which also goes through your terms, trade unions and the a-kassa step by step.

Summary

• You need at least SEK 120,000 in income in twelve months, and at least SEK 11,000 a month in at least four of them.
• At most SEK 34,000 a month counts. The level is 80, 60 or 50 percent depending on your membership time.
• You can get 300, 200 or 100 days, or 66 days under the alternative rule.
• Income is taken from Skatteverket. Pay off the books does not count.
• Join an a-kassa as early as possible after you start working.

Sources

• IAF: Ny arbetslöshetsförsäkring från 1 oktober 2025 (in Swedish)
• Arbetsförmedlingen: Ersättning från a-kassa (in Swedish)
• Riksdagen: Lag (2024:506) om arbetslöshetsförsäkring (in Swedish)
• Riksdagen: Förordning (2024:1350) om arbetslöshetsförsäkring (in Swedish)
• Sveriges a-kassor: Hitta din a-kassa (in Swedish)