2026 Nobel Peace Prize winner to be announced today

The Norwegian Nobel Committee will announce the winner of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Friday, 9 October. Committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes is due to appear before cameras at 10am UK time, which is 11am Central European Summer Time. The Peace Prize is one of five awards set out in Alfred Nobel's will, and it goes to the person who has done the most to advance fellowship among nations, reduce standing armies and promote peace.

Who is mentioned as a favourite

Only a handful of committee members know the decision, so speculation continues. Mykola Kuleba and his organisation Save Ukraine, which works to rescue Ukrainian children abducted by Russia during the war, have long been named among the favourites. Sudan's Emergency Response Rooms are mentioned alongside them. In the last few hours, Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of the late Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, rose to the top of the list on some popular prediction websites. Prediction markets have since shifted again, putting Kuleba and Save Ukraine back in first place and Navalnaya second.

How the winner is chosen

Nominations must be submitted by 31 January, and committee members may add further names at their first meeting, which was held in late February last year. After that the list is closed. The committee draws up a short list and passes it to permanent advisers for their reports. The final decision is usually made at the very last meeting before the announcement, in early October.

The prize and last year's winner

This year's prize money is 12 million Swedish kronor, about €1.1m or £910,000. Last year's prize went to Venezuelan politician María Corina Machado for her struggle against authoritarian rule in her country. She later presented her award to US President Donald Trump when she met him at the White House, nearly a fortnight after he had ordered the abduction of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.