Sweden is rare among European countries in avoiding a full lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Swedish Academy cancels the Nobel Prize for Literature after several high-profile resignations over accusations that it ignored alleged sexual abuse by the husband of one of its members.
Four people die in a truck attack on a busy shopping street in central Stockholm.
Prime Minister Stefan Lofven says he will call snap elections after his minority government loses a budget vote less than three months after coming to power.
The centre-left minority government strikes a deal with the mainstream opposition in order to avert holding a snap election and to counter the rising influence of the far right.
Stefan Lofven becomes premier following parliamentary elections.
The central bank cuts its reference lending rate by half a percentage point to 0.25% to counteract inflation.
Sweden announces plans to boost annual defence spend by 5.5bn kronor ($850m, £500m) by 2020, citing the crisis in Ukraine and "unsettling" developments in Russia.
Thousands line the streets of Stockholm for the wedding of the youngest daughter of the Swedish king, Princess Madeleine.
A Swedish court jails a man of Rwandan origin for participating in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. He took on Swedish citizenship.
Riots erupt in a predominantly immigrant suburb of Stockholm following the fatal police shooting of an elderly man.
Crown Princess Victoria gives birth to Princess Estelle, who becomes second in line to the throne.
Sweden's opposition Social Democrat Party leader Haakan Juholt resigns following increasing criticism and a slump in support since he took office in March last year.
Swedish car maker Saab files for bankruptcy after failing to attract a buyer for the ailing business.
Surgeons in Sweden carry out the world's first synthetic organ transplant after scientists in London create an artificial windpipe coated in stem cells from the patient. Professor Paolo Macchiarini from Italy led the team of surgeons at the Karolinska University Hospital.
A 30-year-old man appears at Glasgow Sheriff Court, Scotland, over the Stockholm suicide bombing. Ezedden Khalid Ahmed Al Khaledi, described as a Kuwaiti national, faces three charges under the UK Terrorism Act and five others under immigration laws and banking regulations.
Founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, is taken into custody in Britain after Sweden asks for his extradition.
Sweden suffers its first suicide bombing, carried out by 28-year-old Iraqi-born Islamist extremist Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly. Two passers-by were injured.
PM Reinfeldt forms new broad minority government.
Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's centre-right coalition falls narrowly short of a majority in parliamentary elections. The anti-immigration Swedish Democrats become the first far right party to win seats in Sweden's parliament.
Sweden takes over rotating presidency of the European Union, with the promise of tackling climate change and combat rising unemployment in Europe.
The government reverses a 30-year-old policy of phasing out nuclear power, saying new reactors are needed to fight climate change and secure energy supplies.
Sweden ratifies the EU's Lisbon Treaty, the 24th member to do so.
Renowned Swedish cinema director Ingmar Bergman dies aged 89.
A centre-right alliance headed by Moderate Party leader Fredrik Reinfeldt wins parliamentary elections, ending 12 years of Social Democrat rule.
Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds resigns amid row over her ministry's involvement in closure of website which had been due to publish controversial cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammad.
Man who confessed to killing Anna Lindh on impulse is convicted of her murder. In December, Supreme Court confirms his life imprisonment, overturning a ruling that he should be sent to a psychiatric hospital.
Foreign Minister Anna Lindh dies from stab wounds after being attacked by an assailant in a Stockholm department store.
Referendum vote goes against joining the single European currency.
Following elections, Goerran Persson continues into third consecutive term as prime minister in minority government relying on support from the Left Party and the Greens.
Official opening of new bridge and tunnel linking Malmo in southern Sweden and Danish capital Copenhagen. The new road and rail link makes it possible to travel between the two countries in just 15 minutes.
Following a general election, Persson forms a minority government, supported by the former communists.
Social Democrat Goeran Persson becomes prime minister after his party colleague Ingvar Carlsson steps down.
Swedes narrowly support EU membership in a referendum. Sweden joins the EU on 1st January 1995.
The parliament supports the government's decision to apply for membership of the European Union.
Social democrat prime minister Olof Palme is assassinated on a Stockholm street by a gunman who fled the scene. Sweden is plunged into shock, and the conduct of the police investigation prompts public criticism.In June 2020, police conclude that the killer was Stig Engstrom, a troubled man who disliked the prime minister and committed suicide in 2000.
Relations with the Soviet Union deteriorate when Soviet submarines are suspected of infiltrating Swedish territorial waters.
Centre Party leader Thorbjörn Fälldin becomes prime minister, leading Sweden's first non-socialist government for forty years
Further constitutional reforms enacted. The last remaining powers of the monarch are removed, so that his duties become purely ceremonial.
The two-chamber parliament is replaced by one chamber elected by proportional representation.
Sweden becomes founder member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
Swedish diplomat Dag Hammarskjoeld becomes secretary-general of the United Nations; he stays in the post until 1961. Sweden contributes troops towards UN peace-keeping missions.
Sweden becomes founder member of the Nordic Council, established to further the mutual interests of the Scandinavian countries.
Sweden joins the United Nations.
Social Democrat Tage Erlander becomes prime minister and stays in the post until 1969. Successive governments develop a comprehensive welfare state, introducing a national health service in 1955 and a state pension scheme in 1959.
Transit agreement with Germany is cancelled.
Following the German occupation of Denmark and Norway, Sweden is forced by German military superiority to allow German troops to transit through Sweden to Norway. But the Swedish prime minister rebuffs Germany's offer of membership in the "New Order". Sweden becomes a refuge for Danes and Norwegians trying to flee from the Germans.
At the outbreak of World War II, Sweden - along with its Scandinavian neighbours - declares its neutrality. Sweden rejects a request from Germany's enemies to use its territory as a transit route for troops.
Sweden joins League of Nations. During the 1920s Sweden develops from an agricultural into an industrial society. Social democratic governments enact various social reforms.
Outbreak of World War I. Sweden remains neutral.
Union between Sweden and Norway peacefully dissolved, 90 years after Sweden invaded Norway.