Is prostitution legal in Sweden?
Buying illegal (Nordic model)
The law criminalizes the purchase of sex but not the act of selling it.
Sweden is one of 10 countries classified “Buying illegal (Nordic model)” for sex work — 5% of the 219 with data. (Also searched as prostitution.)
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Prostitution in Europe
- Last checked
- 17 September 2026
- How it was classified
- Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.
Nearby countries
- Norway
- Buying illegal (Nordic model) Buying sex is criminalized while selling sex is not, fitting the Nordic model definition.
- Finland
- Decriminalized / unregulated Selling sex is legal, but organized prostitution and buying sex linked to trafficking are illegal.
- Estonia
- Decriminalized / unregulated Selling and buying sex are not crimes, but prostitution is not considered a profession.
- Denmark
- Decriminalized / unregulated Selling sex is legal, but third-party activities like procuring and brothel administration remain illegal.
- Latvia
- Legal & regulated Prostitution is legal and regulated with mandatory registration and health checks, though procuring is illegal.
- Lithuania
- Illegal Prostitution is explicitly stated to be illegal in Lithuania, despite being common.
Other laws in Sweden
- Same-Sex Marriage
- Marriage legal
- Same-Sex Activity
- Legal
- Age of Consent
- 14–15
- Divorce
- Legal
- Same-Sex Adoption
- Joint adoption legal
- Incest Laws
- Criminal offense
- Marriage Age
- 18+
A visual reference compiled from Wikipedia’s law-by-country articles, not legal advice. Laws change and summaries simplify — check a primary source before relying on anything here.