Sweden’s general election is extremely tight, with the centre-left opposition holding a narrow lead over the governing centre-right coalition as counting nears completion. With about 95% of districts counted, the Swedish Election Authority projected four opposition parties would win 176 seats in the Riksdag, compared to 173 for the parties making up or supporting the current government. Officials cautioned the outcome could still shift because early and overseas votes are not expected to be fully counted until Wednesday.
In a notable shift, the far-right Sweden Democrats saw their support fall for the first time since entering parliament in 2010, dropping to 17.5% from 20.5% in the 2022 election. Meanwhile, the Social Democrats remained the largest single party with 28.1% of the vote, which is one of their weakest showings in over a century. Analysts warned that both blocs could face a prolonged and difficult government-formation process due to deep ideological divisions.