| Tournament Name: | 1996 Sweater Shop International Open |
| Venue: | Link Centre |
| Location: | Swindon |
| Country: | England |
| Organisation: | WPBSA |
| Format: | Ranking event |
| Total Prize Fund: | £321,400 |
| Winners Share: | £60,000 |
| Highest Break: | 144 |
| Score: | 9–3 |
| Previous: | 1995 |
| Next: | 1997 |
The 1996 International Open (officially the 1996 Sweater Shop International Open) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 17 and 24 February 1996 at the Link Centre in Swindon, England.
John Higgins defended his title by defeating Rod Lawler 9–3 in the final. This was the first time that Lawler reached the final of a ranking event.
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:
| Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: Jan Verhaas. Link Centre, Swindon, England, 24 February 1996. | |||
| John Higgins | 9–3 | Rod Lawler | |
| 46–74(56), 79–4, 71–48, 104(104)–0, 85(76)–13, 59–23, 83(59)–20, 0–85(77), 86(55)–10, 58–69, 100(100)–17, 65(55)–28 | |||
| 104 | Highest break | 77 | |
| 2 | Century breaks | 0 | |
| 6 | 50+ breaks | 2 | |