Nobel Prize in Economics 2026: Schedule, History and Past Winners

Updated 11 October 2026. The 2026 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel is scheduled to be announced on Monday, 12 October, at 11:45 CEST at the earliest. As of publication, no 2026 economics laureate has been announced. This guide explains what the prize recognizes, how its selection works, and what the last ten awards tell us about economics today.

At a glance: Nobel Prize in Economics 2026

What is the Nobel Prize in Economics?

When people say “Nobel Prize in Economics,” they usually mean the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. That shorter phrase is useful, but the full name carries an important piece of history: unlike the prizes for physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace, the economics award was not one of the prizes Alfred Nobel specified in his 1895 will.

Sweden’s central bank, Sveriges Riksbank, established the prize in 1968 in connection with its 300th anniversary. The first award followed in 1969. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences selects the laureate or laureates, and the award is presented alongside the Nobel Prizes. It is therefore closely associated with the Nobel tradition, while its origin is distinct. The official Nobel archive records 57 awards and 99 laureates from 1969 through 2025.

That distinction is worth knowing, but it should not distract from the work being recognized. The prize honours research that changes how economists understand important questions: why some economies sustain growth, how financial shocks spread, how rules shape opportunity, how people make decisions, and which policies actually improve lives.

When will the 2026 economics laureate be announced?

The official Nobel announcement calendar sets the economics announcement for Monday, 12 October 2026, at 11:45 CEST at the earliest, at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. That is 3:15 p.m. in India. The announcement is expected to be carried on the Nobel Prize’s official digital channels, with the citation and supporting information published on NobelPrize.org.

At the time this article was updated, the name and citation for the 2026 award were still pending. That is the most reliable answer to “Who won the Nobel Prize in Economics 2026?” until the Academy makes its announcement. Predictions, betting markets, and social-media speculation are not official results. We will update this guide once the winner and the reason for the award are confirmed.

The announcement is not simply a name reveal. The citation gives a compact account of the contribution being honoured; the popular information explains it for a broad audience; and the scientific background describes the research in greater depth. Reading those materials together is often more revealing than reading a headline alone.

How is the Economics Prize decided?

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences makes the final selection, informed by a process involving the Economic Sciences Prize Committee and expert assessments. Candidates are nominated by people invited or otherwise qualified under the prize’s rules; researchers cannot nominate themselves. The process is designed to evaluate a body of work and its contribution to the field, rather than reward a popular idea or a single news-making paper.

Nominations and related deliberations remain confidential for 50 years. That rule is one reason responsible coverage does not claim to know a shortlist before the Academy announces the result. It also explains why a public list of names circulating online should not be treated as an official Nobel shortlist.

There can be one laureate or several, and the prize may be divided. A shared award does not mean every recipient did identical work: the official citation explains how each contribution fits the recognized achievement. In recent years, economics prizes have honoured individuals as well as collaborations across different institutions and generations.

The last 10 Nobel Prizes in Economic Sciences: 2016–2025

This table covers the ten completed awards from 2016 to 2025. Each summary is a plain-language guide to the official citation; the linked year opens the Nobel Prize’s record for that award.

What the last decade tells us about economics

Growth depends on more than machines and money

The 2018 and 2025 awards both put long-run growth in focus, but from complementary directions. William Nordhaus developed ways to analyse the interaction between climate and the economy; Paul Romer showed how ideas and technological change can be built into models of growth. In 2025, Joel Mokyr’s historical work examined the conditions that allow technological progress to keep feeding growth, while Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt developed a theory of growth through creative destruction: new technologies and firms can displace older ones, creating gains while also imposing real costs on workers and communities.

Together, these contributions make a useful point for readers: economic growth is not a mysterious upward line. It is shaped by knowledge, incentives, institutions, resources, and choices about who bears the costs of change. Good economic research helps separate a promising explanation from a slogan.

Rules and incentives shape everyday life

The 2016 prize for Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmström recognised contract theory: a way of thinking about agreements when people have different information, goals, or ability to observe one another’s actions. Contracts are not abstract paperwork. They influence how employers reward staff, how firms assign decision-making rights, and how public services are organized.

The 2024 award widened the lens from individual agreements to institutions: the rules and organizations that shape political and economic life. Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson studied how institutions emerge and how they affect prosperity. Their work invites a careful question: when two places develop differently, what historical rules, power relationships, and incentives help explain the gap? It is a demanding question, and the answer is rarely a single policy that can be copied everywhere.

Evidence can improve decisions, but context matters

The 2019 prize brought attention to randomized field experiments and a practical research agenda around poverty. The 2021 award recognized two different but related advances: David Card’s empirical contributions to labour economics, and Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens’ methods for drawing causal conclusions from natural experiments. These approaches give researchers stronger tools for asking whether a policy or event caused a change, rather than merely appearing alongside it.

That does not mean one experiment settles every debate. A result from one city, group, or moment may not transfer unchanged to a different setting. The important advance is a more disciplined way to test claims, state uncertainty, and learn from real-world evidence.

People and markets are not perfectly predictable

Economics becomes more realistic when it takes human behaviour seriously. Richard Thaler’s 2017 prize helped bring behavioural economics into wider view by studying how attention, habits, framing, and self-control can affect decisions. The 2020 prize for Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson showed another side of the field: auction theory can help design markets for settings such as radio spectrum, where the rules influence who bids and how valuable resources are allocated.

Financial systems also depend on behaviour and expectations. The 2022 work of Ben Bernanke, Douglas Diamond, and Philip Dybvig deepened understanding of why banks matter and how financial crises can damage the wider economy. Their research is relevant whenever depositors, lenders, businesses, and policymakers must decide what to do under uncertainty.

Why does the Economics Prize matter outside universities?

A Nobel-recognized idea rarely arrives as a ready-made instruction manual. Its public value is more subtle: it can give researchers, officials, journalists, and citizens better concepts for interpreting evidence. A clearer theory of bank runs can improve discussion of financial safeguards. Better tools for measuring cause and effect can sharpen debate about employment policy. A model of innovation can reveal why growth creates winners and losers at the same time.

It is still wise to ask what the research actually shows. Does it describe a pattern, explain a mechanism, identify a causal effect, or recommend a policy? Those are different claims. A prize honours an important contribution; it does not make every later use of that contribution automatically correct. The strongest public conversation keeps the discovery, its evidence, and its limits in view.

This is also why the citation matters. Short phrases such as “for work on growth” may be accurate but too broad to explain what changed. The original research, Nobel popular information, and subsequent debate help readers see both the insight and the boundaries around it.

How to read an economics discovery

Economics is sometimes mistaken for a machine that predicts prices, jobs, or growth with certainty. Its strongest research is usually more careful. It defines a question, makes its assumptions visible, and tests whether an explanation fits evidence. Some contributions create a new model; others improve the way researchers compare outcomes or measure cause and effect. Both kinds can matter because policy debates often turn on claims that sound simple but are difficult to test.

It also helps to distinguish an economic result from a policy instruction. A finding can show that a programme changed an outcome in a particular setting, or that one incentive altered behaviour under certain conditions. Decision-makers still have to consider cost, fairness, local institutions, and what happens over time. The award recognizes research judged important by the Academy; it does not remove the need to ask how broadly a result applies. That habit of asking “for whom, where, and under what conditions?” makes prize coverage more useful than a list of famous names.

What to look for in tomorrow’s announcement

When the 2026 decision is released, start with three details: the exact citation, how the prize is divided, and the official explanation of the contribution. Then ask what problem the research helped solve, what evidence or model it introduced, and how later economists have tested or built on it. If several researchers share the award, look for the Academy’s explanation of each person’s role.

We will update this article after the announcement with the confirmed laureate name, official citation, and a short explanation of the research. Until then, the 2026 result remains pending. For a broader overview of this year’s Nobel announcements, see The Science Man’s 2026 Nobel Prize guide.

Frequently asked questions

Who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2026?

As of 11 October 2026, the laureate has not yet been announced. The official schedule lists the announcement for 12 October at 11:45 CEST at the earliest.

Is economics one of Alfred Nobel’s original Nobel Prizes?

No. The economics award was established later by Sveriges Riksbank in memory of Alfred Nobel. It is presented with the Nobel Prizes, but its history is distinct from the five prizes named in Nobel’s will.

Who selects the economics laureate?

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences makes the selection, with the process supported by a prize committee and expert assessments.

Can the public see the 2026 nominees?

No official shortlist is published for the public. Nomination and selection records are kept confidential for 50 years, so online predictions should not be mistaken for confirmed nominees.

Where can I read the official result?

Follow the announcement and later background material on NobelPrize.org’s prize announcement calendar and the official archive of Economic Sciences laureates.

Sources and further reading

• Nobel Prize announcement dates for 2026
• About the Prize in Economic Sciences
• All prizes in Economic Sciences, 1969–2025
• 2025 prize summary and 2016 prize summary

Editorial note: This article was prepared before the 2026 Economic Sciences announcement. It will be updated against the official Nobel citation once the result is public.

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