Sweden lets you carry as much money as you like. What it asks is that you tell Customs once the total reaches EUR 10,000, and since 1 April 2026 that includes trips within the EU, a change most travel advice has missed.
When you need this
You’re carrying savings, the proceeds of a sale or a deposit in cash. You have gold coins or an investment bar in your luggage. You’re driving over the Öresund Bridge or taking the ferry from Germany with a large sum, which is newly covered. Or you’re crossing to or from Norway, where a much lower Norwegian threshold applies as well.
A declaration, not a limit
The most common misunderstanding is that EUR 10,000 is a cap. It isn’t. There is no maximum amount you may carry, and declaring costs nothing. There is no age limit either.
The rule is a duty to report. Carrying EUR 50,000 in cash is legal; carrying it without telling Swedish Customs (Tullverket) is not. The threshold is “EUR 10,000 or more”, so exactly EUR 10,000 must be declared, and the amount can be in any currency.
The April 2026 change: EU trips count too
Two layers of law sit behind the rule.
| Border | Rule | In force since | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entering or leaving the EU (non-EU flights, the Norwegian border, non-EU ferries) | Declare EUR 10,000 or more | 3 June 2021 | Regulation (EU) 2018/1672 |
| Between Sweden and another EU country, both directions | Declare EUR 10,000 or more | 1 April 2026 | Inregränslagen (1996:701) as amended |
The second row is the new one. Until 1 April 2026 a car crossing from Denmark or a flight from Paris needed no declaration however much cash was on board. Now it needs one, exactly as a flight from New York does. The duty applies in both directions: into Sweden from another EU country, and out of Sweden to one.
Most guides still describe the declaration as an EU-external-border rule. That was true until 1 April 2026 and is no longer. If you read otherwise elsewhere, check the date.
What counts as cash
“Cash” is wider than banknotes. Swedish Customs and the EU regulation both count:
- Notes and coins, in any currency
- Traveller’s cheques
- Cheques and promissory notes in bearer form
- Investment gold: bars, nuggets or clumps of at least 99.5% gold
- Gold coins of at least 90% gold
Add everything together. A traveler with EUR 6,000 in notes and a few gold coins can cross the threshold without realizing it. Investment gold that meets the purity conditions enters without customs duty or VAT, but it still counts as cash for the declaration.
Bank transfers and card payments are outside the rule entirely.
How to declare
- Add it all up — notes, cheques and gold — and compare it with EUR 10,000.
- Declare online before you travel, using Tullverket’s e-service for cash (Anmäl kontanta medel). With an online declaration you don’t need to contact Customs at the border, but keep the registration number: an officer may ask to see it and your supporting documents.
- If you can’t declare online, use the paper form (Anmälan om kontanta medel). Arriving in Sweden, take the red channel, varor att deklarera (“Goods to declare”), and hand it in. Leaving Sweden, hand it in at a customs clearance office at the border or at the red point at the airport.
- If nobody is in the red channel, use the telephone there or call the number posted in the area. Don’t walk through.
The declaration asks who is carrying the cash, who owns it, where it came from and what it is for. An incomplete or inaccurate declaration counts as no declaration at all, so carry something that shows the source, such as a withdrawal slip or a sale contract.
Traveling as a family or group? The EU rule puts the duty on each person carrying cash, and Tullverket publishes no rule on adding a group’s amounts together. The UK explicitly does. If your group together reaches EUR 10,000, declare. It’s free, and nothing penalizes a declaration you didn’t strictly need.
If you don’t declare
Walking through the green or blue channel with EUR 10,000 or more undeclared has three consequences:
- Search. Customs may search vehicles, luggage and handbags for cash, and may carry out a body search if there is reason to believe you haven’t declared.
- Detention. Customs may temporarily hold undeclared or wrongly declared cash, for up to 30 days, extendable to a maximum of 90. It may also hold cash of any amount, even below EUR 10,000, where there are signs of a link to crime.
- A fine. Failing to declare is punishable by fines: as a tullförseelse (customs offence) at the EU external border, and under the inregränslagen at the internal border, except in minor cases. Where the facts amount to smuggling or money laundering, those laws apply instead.
Norway and the UK
Both sit outside the EU, so the Swedish side has long required a declaration of EUR 10,000 or more. Each also runs its own rule, and your Swedish declaration doesn’t cover it.
Norway sets the bar far lower: amounts above NOK 25,000 must be declared to Norwegian Customs, and failing to do so costs 20% of the entire amount, not just the excess. Crossing between Sweden and Norway with a large sum, you may need to declare on both sides. See crossing the Sweden–Norway border.
The UK requires a declaration of £10,000 or more between Great Britain and any country outside the UK. It adds up family and group totals, and lets you declare online up to 72 hours before travel. Leaving the UK, you declare before you go.
Sending cash by post or courier
Posting cash doesn’t avoid the rule. For EUR 10,000 or more sent by post, parcel or freight, no routine declaration is needed, but Tullverket may require the sender or recipient to explain where the money came from and what it is for within 30 days, and may hold the consignment until they do. Customs may search post and parcels for cash.
Do you need cash at all?
Probably not much. Cash accounts for about 5% of in-store purchases in Sweden, and a foreign Visa or Mastercard works almost everywhere. For how to pay day to day, see whether you can pay with cash in Sweden and money in Sweden.
Practical information
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Threshold, Sweden (EU external and internal border) | EUR 10,000 or more, or the equivalent |
| Cost of declaring | Free |
| Maximum you may carry | None |
| How to declare | Tullverket e-service before travel, or paper form at the border |
| Failing to declare in Sweden | Fines; cash may be held up to 30 days, extendable to 90 |
| Threshold, Norway | More than NOK 25,000 |
| Failing to declare in Norway | 20% of the entire amount |
| Threshold, UK | £10,000 or more |
FAQ
Do I have to declare cash when entering Sweden?
Yes, if you carry cash worth EUR 10,000 or more, in any currency. The rule applies whether you arrive from outside the EU or, since 1 April 2026, from another EU country. It is a duty to report, not a limit: there is no maximum amount, and declaring to Tullverket, Swedish Customs, is free. Cash includes traveller’s cheques, investment gold and gold coins.
Do I need to declare cash when traveling between Sweden and another EU country?
Yes, since 1 April 2026. Sweden extended the EUR 10,000 declaration duty to its internal EU borders in both directions, so a drive over the Öresund Bridge or a ferry from Germany now requires a declaration just as a flight from outside the EU does. Many travel guides still say otherwise because they predate the change.
How do I declare cash to Swedish Customs?
The easiest way is Tullverket’s online e-service before you travel; keep the registration number to show if asked. Otherwise fill in the paper form. Arriving, take the red “Goods to declare” channel and hand it in. Leaving, hand it in at a customs office at the border or the red point at the airport.
What happens if I don’t declare cash in Sweden?
Customs can search your luggage and vehicle, and may hold undeclared cash for up to 30 days, extendable to a maximum of 90 days, while it investigates. Failing to declare is punishable by fines, and more serious cases fall under the smuggling or money-laundering laws. An incomplete or inaccurate declaration counts as no declaration at all.
Does gold count as cash at Swedish customs?
Yes. Investment gold in bars, nuggets or clumps of at least 99.5% purity, and gold coins of at least 90% gold, count as cash. If their value, together with any other cash you carry, reaches EUR 10,000, you must declare them. Investment gold that meets the conditions is otherwise free of customs duty and VAT.
What are the cash rules between Sweden and Norway?
Norway is outside the EU, so the Swedish side has long required a declaration of EUR 10,000 or more. Norway runs its own, much lower threshold: amounts above NOK 25,000 must be declared to Norwegian Customs, and failing to do so costs 20% of the entire amount. Crossing with a large sum, you may need to declare on both sides.
Related guides
- Customs allowances in Sweden — the rest of what you may bring in, from alcohol to food.
- Crossing the Sweden–Norway border — where the EU rule and Norway’s lower threshold meet.
- Can you pay with cash in Sweden? — why you’ll rarely need notes, and where cash must still be accepted.
- Money in Sweden — cards, currency and what a visitor actually needs.
- Arriving at Arlanda — the customs channels you’ll walk through.
Facts verified 2026-09-24. Sources: Tullverket (Swedish Customs), Regulation (EU) 2018/1672, Sveriges riksdag (inregränslagen, tullbefogenhetslagen, tullagen), Tolletaten, GOV.UK and Sveriges Riksbank — full register in this topic’s source file. No exchange-rate equivalents are published here because they change daily; if you’re close to the threshold, declare. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.