electionstracker

Sweden 1988 general election

What was the result of the 1988 general election in Sweden?

Swedish Social Democratic Party won 156 of 349 seats with 43.2% of the vote. 86.0% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Sweden
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Swedish Social Democratic Party won 156 of 349 seats with 43.2% of the vote; 86.0% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 3.9 points on 1985.

  • Swedish Social Democratic Party 156 −3 seats 43.2% −1.5 points
  • Moderate Party 66 −10 seats 18.3% −3.0 points
  • Liberals 44 −7 seats 12.2% −2.0 points
  • Centre Party 42 −1 seat 11.3% −1.1 points
  • Left Party 21 +2 seats 5.8% +0.4 points
  • Green Party 20 +20 seats 5.5% +4.0 points
  • Christian Democrats 0 −1 seat 2.9% +2.9 points
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Sweden 1985 general election, party by party.

175 of 349 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 43.2%

    Share of the vote won by Swedish Social Democratic Party

    Swedish Social Democratic Party won 156 of 349 seats. A majority needs 175.

  2. +20 seats

    Seats gained by Green Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1985. Moderate Party lost 10 seats.

  3. 86.0%

    Voter turnout

    Down 3.9 points on 1985.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Swedish Social Democratic Party156−343.2−1.52,321,826
Moderate Party66−1018.3−3.0983,226
Liberals44−712.2−2.0655,720
Centre Party42−111.3−1.1607,240
Left Party21+25.8+0.4314,031
Green Party20+205.5+4.0296,935
Christian Democrats0−12.9+2.9158,182

± is the change against the Sweden 1985 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Swedish Social Democratic Party 2,321,826
  • Moderate Party 983,226
  • Liberals 655,720
  • Centre Party 607,240
  • Left Party 314,031
  • Green Party 296,935
  • Christian Democrats 158,182

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

86.0% of the 6,330,023 registered voters cast a ballot (5,441,050 ballots), down 3.9 points on 1985. 5,373,719 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout since 1964 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Swedish Social Democratic Party43.2% of votes44.7% of seats
  • Moderate Party18.3% of votes18.9% of seats
  • Liberals12.2% of votes12.6% of seats
  • Centre Party11.3% of votes12.0% of seats
  • Left Party5.8% of votes6.0% of seats
  • Green Party5.5% of votes5.7% of seats
  • Christian Democrats2.9% of votes0.0% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 2.4 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.9 by votes and 3.7 by seats; Swedish Social Democratic Party led Moderate Party by 24.9 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of