STOCKHOLM — Swedes voted on Sunday in a general election between Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's centre-right coalition and opposition leader Magdalena Andersson's Social Democrats. Polling stations across the country closed in the evening, with final tallies expected to take days.

Kristersson's Moderate-led government has held office since 2022 with parliamentary support from the far-right Sweden Democrats, led by Jimmie Åkesson. The campaign centered on gang violence, immigration, energy prices, and the cost of living, according to Swedish broadcaster SVT.

Opinion surveys from Novus and Ipsos in the final week showed the left and right blocs separated by only a few percentage points. The Sweden Democrats and the Social Democrats have competed to emerge as the largest single party, with the result dependent on turnout and undecided voters.

Andersson, who briefly served as Sweden's first female prime minister in 2021, campaigned on welfare spending and criticism of the government's record on crime. Kristersson defended his coalition's tougher policing measures and argued that his bloc had stabilised the economy.

The outcome carries weight for the European Union and NATO, which Sweden joined in 2024. A change of government would reshape Stockholm's domestic agenda while leaving its security alignment largely intact, according to analysts at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.