Is cold email legal in Sweden? B2B rules for 2026

Yes, to companies: Sweden's Marketing Practices Act (marknadsföringslagen) requires prior consent for marketing email only to natural persons (19 §), so an info@ address at a limited company needs none, but every email must include a valid opt-out address (20 §). Sole traders count as natural persons and need consent. Emailing a named employee without consent is an open question: the only support is industry self-regulation (SWEDMA) and the act's wording, and the authorities in Norway and Finland read the same ePrivacy rule the other way. We found no Swedish guidance on LinkedIn messages.

Checked on 15 October 2026 against the law text and the regulator's guidance. This is not legal advice.

Sweden is looser than Germany for company addresses. The Nordic picture is in how to find B2B customers in the Nordics, other countries in cold email laws by country.

At a glance

What does the law say?

Consent is required only when marketing to a natural person:

"En näringsidkare får vid marknadsföring till en fysisk person använda elektronisk post, telefax eller sådana uppringningsautomater [...] bara om den fysiska personen har samtyckt till det på förhand." (19 §)

"When marketing to a natural person, a trader may use electronic mail, fax, or automatic calling machines [...] only if the natural person has consented to it in advance." (our translation)

Every marketing email needs an opt-out address, companies included:

"Vid marknadsföring med elektronisk post ska meddelandet alltid innehålla en giltig adress till vilken mottagaren kan sända en begäran om att marknadsföringen ska upphöra. Detta gäller även vid marknadsföring till en juridisk person." (20 §)

"When marketing by electronic mail, the message must always contain a valid address to which the recipient can send a request that the marketing cease. This also applies to marketing to a legal person." (our translation)

Source: Marknadsföringslag (2008:486) on riksdagen.se, amended up to SFS 2022:656.

What do the authorities say?

We found no guidance from Konsumentverket, KO or the data protection authority IMY on email to named employees, and no court ruling. The clearest official statement is the government's, when the rules were introduced: "Det bör för närvarande inte införas några ytterligare bestämmelser som skyddar juridiska personer mot icke begärd marknadsföring" (no further provisions protecting legal persons against unsolicited marketing should be introduced at present, our translation; Government Bill 2003/04:43; the 2008 act kept the same rules).

Company address or named person?

The act draws the line between natural and legal persons, not between address formats.

• Sole traders need consent. The preparatory works protect "konsumenter och fysiska personer som är näringsidkare" (consumers and natural persons who are traders).
• Named employees at a limited company are an open question. The industry association SWEDMA's ethical rules for B2B email (March 2021) say: "I sådana fall krävs det inte ett aktivt samtycke från företaget eller personen, så länge det kommersiella meddelandet är relevant för mottagarens yrkesroll." ("In such cases [a person contacted in their professional role], active consent from the company or the person is not required, as long as the commercial message is relevant to the recipient's professional role", our translation; SWEDMA.)

SWEDMA is self-regulation, not an authority. Its reading fits 19 §, which protects a "fysisk person" while a B2B offer goes to the company, but nobody has tested it. The authorities in Norway and Finland read the same ePrivacy rule the other way and treat firstname.lastname@company as a natural person's address (Finland with an exception when the offer substantially relates to the person's job). To avoid that risk, use the generic address or get consent.

Can you send LinkedIn messages?

No guidance found from Konsumentverket, KO, IMY or a Swedish court on LinkedIn or other private messages on social media. The act defines electronic mail as an "adresserat eller på något annat sätt individualiserat elektroniskt meddelande" (an addressed or otherwise individualised electronic message, 3 §), so a private LinkedIn message can be covered (our assessment), with the same split as email. In 2012 the Nordic consumer ombudsmen, KO included, treated Facebook inbox messages to consumers as electronic mail requiring consent; we have that only from a secondary source.

GDPR: does legitimate interest help?

Yes, for the data. A named contact's details are personal data, and IMY (updated 15 June 2026) says:

"Behandling av personuppgifter för direktmarknadsföring kan betraktas som ett berättigat intresse. Ni måste alltid upphöra med direktmarknadsföring om den registrerade invänder mot behandlingen."

"Processing of personal data for direct marketing may be regarded as a legitimate interest. You must always stop direct marketing if the data subject objects to the processing." (our translation)

In practice: a documented balancing test (article 6(1)(f)), saying where you got the data at the latest in the first message (article 14(3)(b)), and stopping for good on objection (article 21(3)) (GDPR). More in our guide to legitimate interest for B2B email.

Fines and real cases

We found no Swedish decision imposing a fee for B2B email. A market disruption fee can follow a breach of any provision of the act (29 §), from SEK 10,000 up to 4% of turnover (31 §). KO brings the case and the Patent and Market Court decides (48 §).

The closest real example is B2C: KO's injunction against ATG, published 15 June 2020, banned gambling ads to consumers who had said no, by SMS and direct mail. It was not a fine. We found no IMY decision on B2B email either.

Checklist for B2B email to Sweden

1. Check the legal form: sole traders need consent.
2. Put a valid opt-out address in every email, also to companies (20 §).
3. Keep each message relevant to the recipient's role.
4. Document a balancing test for named contacts (GDPR art. 6(1)(f)).
5. Say who you are and where you got the data, at the latest in the first message (GDPR art. 14).
6. Stop at the first objection and keep one objection list across channels.
7. For calls, respect objections (21 §) and check consumer numbers against NIX, as Konsumentverket advises.

How Leo handles Sweden

Revexa, which publishes this guide, builds Leo, a buying-signal agent. Leo automatically blocks cold messages only to leads in Germany. For leads in Sweden, as in every other country (Denmark and Norway included), you read and approve each draft in review mode and decide yourself whether it is sent. Leo writes to Swedish buyers in Swedish, and to other leads in their own language when your website exists in that language, otherwise in English.

Common questions

Is cold B2B email legal in Sweden?

Yes, to companies. Marknadsföringslagen 19 § requires prior consent only for marketing to natural persons, but every message needs a valid opt-out address (20 §). Sole traders count as natural persons and need consent, and GDPR applies to the named contact.

Can I email a named employee at a Swedish company without consent?

There is no settled answer. SWEDMA's industry rules say a message relevant to the person's professional role needs no consent, which fits the act's wording, but no authority or court has confirmed it, and Norway's and Finland's authorities read the same rule the other way.

Can I send LinkedIn messages to Swedish prospects?

We found no Swedish guidance or ruling. In our assessment the act's technology-neutral definition of electronic mail can cover a private LinkedIn message, with the same rules as email.

What are the penalties for cold email in Sweden?

A market disruption fee from SEK 10,000 up to 4% of turnover, decided by the Patent and Market Court. We found no case where one was imposed for B2B email.