Working days per year 2023

Working hours per month

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:

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	22	176	9	1
February	20	160	8	0
March	23	184	8	0
April	18	144	10	3
May	21	168	8	2
June	20	160	8	2
July	21	168	10	0
August	23	184	8	0
September	21	168	9	0
October	22	176	9	0
November	22	176	8	0
December	19	152	10	2
Total annual working hours	252	2016	105	10
Average / Month	21	168	8.75	0.83

Good Friday

What happens on Good Friday is not a celebration, but rather a celebration. Jesus' crucifixion is what is noticed and this day is traditionally gray and mourning. Symbols of grief have historically emerged during Good Friday. Here we have seen black clothes, closed shops, avoided contact, very simple restricted food or even fasting. It was illegal for a while to have fun on Good Friday. Dancing, taverns, cinemas, bingo and football matches were all banned. Even further back in history, we also see that they have whipped each other with rice, to remind themselves of Jesus' suffering. In modern times, suffering has been withdrawn. Nowadays, it is allowed and legal to do what you want on Good Friday, but many insist on limiting themselves. In the Church's attention on Good Friday, a service is held in the morning, close to the ninth hour in which Jesus died. No music is played, all signs of joy are gone and hymns are sung. The only decoration is five red roses that adorn the altar, which are symbols of the wounds Jesus received when he was crucified.

Easter Monday

This is the day when it is celebrated that Jesus appeared to his disciples, after dying on the cross and coming back to life. Easter Monday is the day after Easter. On Easter day, Jesus' tomb was examined and it was discovered that it was empty. The next day, Jesus began to appear to his disciples. Easter Monday is a day in Christianity that helps to establish that there is a hope for a life after death, together with God, because Jesus shows that death can be defeated. The second day of Easter is of course happier than Good Friday and this day is without special regulations for joy. In the folk home, there is usually leftover Easter food, family may gather and eat together on Easter Eve without further meaning for Jesus and his disciples.

May 1

First of May - 1st of May

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.