Working days per year 2023
In general, when you talk about the number of working hours per month, you usually say 160, or if you talk about the number of working days per year in 2023, you usually say 250, which is often not quite right. This year (2023), for example, there are between 152 and 184 working hours with an average of 169 hours per month or 253 working days (112 days off!). Here in the table below, you can see exactly how many working days, working hours, number of Saturdays and Sundays and other days off, for example red days, Midsummer's Eve, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. On the occasions that a red day coincides with a Saturday or Sunday, it is counted in the Sat & Sun column. We also expect an eight-hour working day. Which days in Sweden count as holidays are regulated in the following Lag (1989: 253) "The Public Holidays Act". The majority are free on the following holidays, even if they happen to coincide with a normal weekday:
- New Year's Eve
- Christmas Eve
- Easter Day and Pentecost
- New Year's Day and Thirteenth Day of Christmas
- May 1
- Christmas Day and Christmas Eve
- Good Friday and Easter Monday
- Ascension Day
- Sweden's National Day
- Midsummer Day
- All Saints Day
- Midsummer Eve
Feel free to check out our calendar here on the right, which contains information such as e.g. name days and a little history about what happened on that particular day.
Month | Working days | Working hours | Sat & Sun. | Others |
---|---|---|---|---|
January | 21 | 168 | 9 | 1 |
February | 20 | 160 | 8 | 0 |
March | 23 | 184 | 8 | 0 |
April | 18 | 144 | 10 | 2 |
May | 21 | 168 | 8 | 2 |
June | 20 | 160 | 8 | 2 |
July | 21 | 168 | 10 | 0 |
August | 23 | 184 | 8 | 0 |
September | 22 | 176 | 8 | 0 |
October | 21 | 168 | 10 | 0 |
November | 22 | 176 | 8 | 0 |
December | 21 | 168 | 9 | 1 |
Total annual working hours | 253 | 2024 | 104 | 8 |
Average / Month | 21 | 169 | 8.67 | 0.67 |
Easter Day and Pentecost
Easter Day
Easter Sunday, or the Sunday of the resurrection, is celebrated in memory of the resurrection of Jesus. This day falls on the Sunday of the Easter weekend. The Easter weekend has a variable date and takes place at different times each year, between March 22 and April 25. Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. This day is of the utmost importance in the Christian church because it celebrates the resurrection of Jesus after being buried on Good Friday. Easter Day is associated with worship services and Easter hymns. The services have many expressions of joy. White textiles, lilies and candles that adorn the altar are all associated with joy. Easter Day is celebrated in the church and in the Swedish folk home. In the homes, Easter food goes hot all Easter weekend. Eggs, lamb, pickled salmon, Jansson's temptation and many other goodies are eaten. Eggs go hand in hand with Easter and the eggs are a symbol of life, which is connected with the resurrection of Jesus. The egg represents life and from the hard shell, which is a symbol of the tomb, Jesus emerges. Furthermore, the color theme is yellow. Yellow decorations are everywhere throughout the Easter weekend. The yellow color is also associated with the egg, or rather the chicken that comes from the egg.Pentecost
Pentecost falls 10 days after Ascension Day and 7 weeks after Easter. The Christian tradition is celebrated in the church. The purpose is to remember that the Holy Spirit appeared to the disciples and thus also formed the first Christian church. Therefore, Pentecost is usually seen as the church's birthday. Pentecost is also called the time of rapture. Historically, Pentecost has been centered on the celebration of the church building. The church has been decorated with, among other things, leaf litter and candles. In an even older tradition, Pentecost has been a day of sacrifice. Here a Pentecostal bride was brought to the church halls and from yard to yard to solicit gifts. She was dressed in wedding clothes, though usually not of as good quality as at a real wedding. The tradition of Pentecostal bride became something controversial which today has a completely different meaning, as it is common to get married on Pentecost.May 1
May 1
This day has been celebrated since 1890 and stems from the demonstrations of the labor movement. In 1890, the Second International required an eight-hour workday. The Second International was an organization formed in Paris, but the demonstrations also spread to Sweden in 1890. The first of May has been a public holiday in Sweden since 1939. This day is one of the two (together with the national day) festivals that are considered non-bourgeois, ie without connection to the Church of Sweden. The first of May has historically not only been to demonstrate for the rights of the worker, but also for other purposes such as demonstrations of sobriety etc.
Before the Industrial Revolution, May Day was also celebrated as a day, the first day of summer. It was a day when the animals were let out to pasture, the village team chose an elder and they took joint initiatives to review farms, fences and finances. The pre-industrial celebration of the first of May ended with a party, as well as drinking marrow from a bone, to gather strength.
The most notable symbol of the first of May is the cornflower. This was first sold in Gothenburg in 1907. Flowers themselves have a positive, life-giving symbolism. The money from the sale is historical and still goes to charity, in most cases to vulnerable children.
One reason we celebrate May Day is the Haymarket Massacre, which took place in Chicago in 1886. At the demonstration, workers protested for just an 8-hour workday but met strong and violent opposition from police. Overall, the first of May is a holiday that is celebrated a little differently depending on where you are in the country. You choose to party, play games or demonstrate. The overarching theme is at least for the people to unite in a public place in the hope of showing the ruling powers that they have a voice that wants to be heard.