Copenhagen, 22 February 2023 (dpa/MIA) - A total of 305 candidates have been nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, the lowest number in four years, organizers said on Wednesday.

Of the nominations to be submitted before the February 1 deadline, 212 are individuals and 93 are organizations, the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo said.

Last year saw 343 submissions. This year's 305 nominations is the lowest since 2019.

"For eight years in a row the number of candidates has been exceeding 300. The current record of 376 candidates was reached in 2016," the committee statement said.

The names of the nominators and the nominees are not released by the committee to the media nor to those up for the prestigious prize.

The winner will be announced in early October. The prize is then presented on December 10, the anniversary of the death of dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), who established the prizes.

Last year, human rights activists from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine shared the Nobel Peace Prize.