The number of Nobel Prizes annually awarded isn't set and varies from year to year. There have been several years since 1901 in which Nobel Prizes haven't been awarded. Recently, the Nobel Foundation has awarded 9 to 12 Nobel Prizes each year, along with 1 to 2 Sveriges Riksbank Prizes in Economic Sciences.
The Nobel Prize is given in five different areas, including physics, literature, medicine, peace, and chemistry, as the economics prize is not technically a Nobel Prize. From 1901 through today, a total of 550 Nobel Prizes and 51 Prizes in Economic Sciences have been awarded. Two people have turned down the Nobel Prize: writer-philosopher John-Paul Sartre in 1964 and Vietnamese leader Le Duc Tho in 1973.
