STOCKHOLM, Sweden: Nobel Prize winners this year will receive 12 million Swedish kroner ($1.27 million) per prize, up from 11 million kroner in 2025, as the prestigious awards mark the 125th anniversary of their first presentation, the Nobel Foundation announced on Friday.
Winnaars Nobelprijs krijgen dit jaar bijna 90.000 euro meer prijzengeld https://t.co/8T4mDADKf5
— NU.nl (@NUnl) September 18, 2026
The increase of one million kroner represents a rise of about 9 per cent and will apply to each of the six Nobel Prize categories. Where a prize is shared by multiple laureates, the amount will be divided among them.
The 2026 Nobel Prize announcements are scheduled from October 5 to October 12, with the medicine prize opening Nobel Week, followed by physics, chemistry, literature and peace. The economics prize will conclude the announcements on October 12.
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Nobel Foundation links increase to 125th anniversary
Nobel Foundation Director Hanna Stjärne said the increase would help preserve the long-term financial value of the prizes.
“This year, we are celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Nobel Prize, and in connection with this, we are pleased to be able to increase the prize amount by one million (kroner),” Stjärne said in a statement.
She added that raising the prize money would help ensure that the financial component of the awards retains its value over time.
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The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901, with a prize amount of 150,782 kroner in each category. The awards were established through the will of Swedish businessman and inventor Alfred Nobel, who made his fortune from inventions including dynamite.
You may know that Nobel Prize laureates receive a medal, a personal diploma and a cash award. But do you know where that money comes from?
When businessman and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel died, he left the majority of his fortune to the establishment of the Nobel Prizes.
His will… pic.twitter.com/kgooEq5G5M
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) September 16, 2026
Over more than a century, the Nobel Prizes have become among the world’s most prominent international awards, recognising contributions in medicine or physiology, physics, chemistry, literature and peace, while the economics prize was established later.
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The 2026 awards will therefore combine the annual recognition of achievements across the six disciplines with commemorations marking 125 years since the first Nobel Prizes were presented.
