Number of drowning accidents in Sweden halved in July
15 people drowned in Sweden in July. That is less than half as many compared to July last year, when 31 people drowned.
New preliminary figures from the Swedish Lifesaving Society, SLS, show that a total of 37 people have died by drowning in 2026 through to the end of July 2026, compared to 71 people in the corresponding period in 2025.
"The number of deaths in drowning accidents for July 2026 is relatively low and nine people fewer than the average of 24 for the 2000s," SLS wrote in a press release.
Of those who drowned in July this year, nine were men and five women, most of them elderly. An additional, unidentified, body was found in mid-July in the water at Elfvik on northern Lidingö, outside Stockholm.
Swedish vocabulary: drunkningsolyckor ‒ drowning accidents
Kristersson: No decision on extended crisis measures
More expensive food and higher electricity and fuel prices risk hitting Swedish households hard this autumn. But the government has not yet made any decisions on extending the temporary crisis measures, which included reduced food VAT and reduced fuel tax.
“Right now it is a bit unclear,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told Swedish newswire TT regarding whether the measures would be extended.
Experts warn of continued high fuel and electricity prices this winter, not least because of the crisis in the Middle East. In addition, rising food prices are expected due, among other things, due to a particularly severe variant of the weather phenomenon El Niño this year.
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The government has already temporarily lowered taxes on gasoline and diesel twice this year, after receiving the green light from the EU Commission, to counteract rapidly rising prices.
"The decision ultimately depends on what happens in the region (the Middle East) and on the price picture. Right now it is a bit unclear, I would say, but we have no new decisions," Kristersson told TT.
Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson emphasised that this is a temporary approval that Sweden has received from the EU Commission.
"It is a protracted crisis and the longer it goes on, the more difficult it could become with energy prices and other things going forward," she said. "I follow this issue every day and am prepared to do more if required, but what we have done so far is very well balanced."
Swedish vocabulary: krisåtgärder ‒ crisis measures
Social Democrats promise extra child allowance for Christmas and summer holidays
The Social Democrats are going to the polls on doubling the child and student allowance (barnbidrag and studiebidrag) before each Christmas and summer holiday.
That would mean 5,000 kronor more per year for a family of two children.
"This could make it possible to buy a wristband for Gröna Lund, pay the fee for the football school or finally buy that Christmas present that is at the top of the wish list," said Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson during a summer speech she gave at Mosebacketerrassen in Stockholm.
The child benefit is currently 1,250 kronor per child. The Social Democrat election promise would mean an extra child benefit is paid twice a year, in December before the Christmas holidays and in June before the summer holidays.
Andersson and the party's economic policy spokesperson Mikael Damberg point out that recent years have been tough for families with children, with skyrocketing food prices, increased rents and more expensive mortgages.
"It is absurd that the current government has not prioritized an increase in the child benefit," Andersson said.
Swedish vocabulary: barnfamiljer ‒ families with children
Genealogists crack 21-year-old Brattås murder mystery
On June 22nd 2005, Tor Öberg and his common-law partner Gerd Wiklund were found murdered on a farm in Brattås outside Härnösand. This past Friday, August 7th 2026, a 45-year-old man was charged after DNA-based genealogy was used in the investigation.
The method was previously used in a pilot project in 2020 to solve the double murder in Linköping in 2004, where genealogist Peter Sjölund helped find the perpetrator.
After the case in Linköping, the Swedish Privacy Protection Agency deemed the method illegal. An investigation was set up and as of last year DNA-based genealogy can now be used in murder investigations. In August 2025, prosecutors decided to use the method in the Brattås case.
“I live in Härnösand and see Brattås from here," said genealogist Peter Sjölund. "This has really been a trauma for this town for years, and there are lots of rumours and theories about who it was and why this happened. It would be nice to know what happened and why."
The method involves entering a DNA profile from a crime scene into a genealogy database. If the profile from the crime scene matches other DNA profiles, it becomes possible to, through genealogy, find the person who left the traces.
"If you have pieces of DNA that are the same, then you are related. DNA doesn't lie," said Sjölund.
Unlike the police's own databases, genealogy databases are much more detailed. According to Sjölund, the police use around 15 pieces of DNA - compared to at least 700,000 in a genealogy database.
Swedish vocabulary: släktforskning ‒ genealogy