"The odds of a person being absent from work increase by 57 percent during a men's football tournament," statistician Lena Johansson said in a statement.
Statistics Sweden compared the years 2005-2025 and analysed absence rates during four World Cups and five European Championships in men's football. They included permanently employed individuals aged 16-64.
The figures show that the probability of short-term absence from work is 27 percent during the summer weeks when tournaments are played, compared to 19 percent when there is no tournament.
If the odds for short-term absence are set at 1 during weeks in June and July without a football tournament, they rise to 1.57 during tournament weeks. The odds describe the ratio between the probability of being absent and the probability of not being absent.
But absences during a football summer vary across different demographic segments, according to Statistics Sweden. For example, younger people have a lower absence rate than older people.
"Other differences are that native-born people are absent more than foreign-born people, single people are less absent than partners and people with children under the age of 12 are absent more than people without children," said Johansson.
However, there's no significant difference between men and women.