Around the Nordic Region in 50 Years

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Statistics from 1962-2012

KEY FIGURES. Get a unique insight to trends in the Nordic Region over 50 years.

Marital status: There are many more unmarried people in the Nordic countries today (2010) than in 1962. The number of people who are divorced has risen from around 3 per cent of the population in 1962 to around 11 per cent today.
Live births: Mothers have become much older. Most babies are now born by mothers in the age group 30-34 years. In the beginning of the sixties most women were between 20 and 24 years of age when they gave birth.
Infant mortality: Not surprisingly infant mortality has decreased substantially since the early sixties. In 1961 infant mortality ranged between 15.8 and 21.7 deaths per 1000 live births in the Nordic countries. In 2010 the rate was reduced to between 2.2 and 3.4 per 1000 live births.
Population forecast: In 1966 the forecast for the growth of the population in the Nordic countries was overestimated for 1980. The forecast said that there would be 23.3 million people in the 5 Nordic countries by 1980. This was not the case since the Nordic countries all together “only” had 22.3 million people in 1980.
Immigration: The immigration to the Nordic countries in 1961 mostly came from the other Nordic countries. Today (2010) most immigrants come from the rest of Europe. The largest increase in the number of immigrants to the Nordic countries is coming from Asia. The share of immigrants from Asia has risen from 1 to 21 per cent
Life expectancy: Life expectancy in the Nordic countries has risen for both men and women since the beginning of the 60s. The average life expectancy for me has rise by 4.3 years from 1961 to 2010. For women the numbers are even higher since life expectancy has risen by 8.9 years on average. The greatest increase for both men and women has been in Finland.
Sales of alcoholic drinks: Sales of alcoholic drinks have risen considerably since the beginning of the 60s to today. In most countries sales have more than doubled or tripled. In Finland and Iceland sales have increased five-fold.
Deaths from cancer: Deaths from cancer are much more common now than in the early sixties. Denmark has the highest number of deaths due to cancer in the Nordic countries. Iceland the lowest.
Suicides: In three of the Nordic countries the total number of suicides for men has declined in Iceland and Norway the rate has gone up. For women only two countries, Denmark and Sweden have had a decline. Denmark has had the largest decline in the number of suicides for both men and women. A little more than a 30 per cent decline for men and almost a decline of 60 per cent for women.
Abortions: The number of abortions has gone up since the early sixties mainly due to the fact that induced abortions have been legal in all the Nordic countries since the mid-seventies. Sweden has the highest abortion rate of the five Nordic countries – close to twice the rate of Finland, where you find the lowest abortion rate.
Health staff: There is still quite a significant difference among the countries with respect to the number of health staff. But the number of health staff has increased in all the Nordic countries since the beginning of the sixties. In most countries the number of physicians per 100 000 people has more than tripled. The increase in the number of dentists is not that significant.
Housing: The number of homes with more than 4 rooms (including kitchen) has risen from 19 per cent of the total number of home in 1960 to 45 per cent today (2010) taking the Nordic Region as a whole. The highest number of large houses is in Norway and the lowest in Finland.
University students: The number of university students in the Nordic countries has risen considerably from 1960 to 2010 – from about 90,000 students in 1960 to almost 1.2 million in 2010. There has been a change in the courses the students choose from Humanities to Social Sciences, Finance and Law. With the exception of teacher training, pedagogy and the arts, all degree courses were dominated by men in 1960. In 2010, only Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering had more male students than female. Altogether females made up 58 per cent of all university students in 2010.
Unemployment: In the beginning of the 1960s the unemployment rates in the Nordic countries were quite low compared to 2010 - between 1.4 and 4.3 per cent of the labour force. In 2010 the rates ranged between 3.7 and 8.5 per cent of the labour force.
Cinemas: In the early sixties there were more than 4,000 cinemas but in 2010 there were only 1,000. The number of cinemas per 100,000 people in the Nordic countries has thus been reduced to only one fifth of the number at the beginning of the sixties. This is mainly due to the reduction in the number of cinemas. The increase in population only accounts for a small share.
Private and public consumption: Over the 50 years from 1960 to 2010 private consumption has gone down, when we measure it as a share of GDP and public consumption has gone up. The largest decline in private consumption has happened in Norway where it has fallen from approximately 59 to 41 per cent of GDP. The largest rise in public consumption was in Iceland and Denmark with close to a 17 per cent rise.
Taxes: The role taxes play in the Nordic countries as part of GDP has risen considerably over the last 50 years. In the beginning of the sixties the share ranged between 20 and 30 per cent of GDP to now (2010) between 36 and 48 per cent. In 1960 Sweden had the highest tax share in 2010 it is Denmark. The share in Denmark has gone up from 21 to 48 per cent.
Consumption of food: Consumption of staple foods such as flour, cereals, sugar and potatoes has declined in the Nordic countries in the last 50 years. The amount of potatoes consumed by the average Nordic citizen has fallen from 80 kg per person to only 54 kg per person. On the other hand we now eat an average of 80 kg of meat per person compared to only 61 kg in 1960.
Private consumption: In 2009 we spent the largest share of our money on housing. In 1961 we spent the most money on food. In 1961 we roughly spent around one fourth of our money on food. In 2009 that share was reduced to close to a tenth-part. For housing the share has more or less moved in exactly the opposite direction – from a share of 10 per cent to a share of close to 25 per cent. There are however individual differences between the Nordic countries.
Cars: In 1960 there were around 2 million cars in the five Nordic countries all together. In 2011 the number is close to 12 million – or almost 1 car per 2 people on average. In Iceland, were you find the most cars, they now have 641 cars per 1 000 people. In 1960 the fewest cars were found in Finland where they only had 83 cars per 1 000 people. In 2011 Denmark has the fewest private cars with “only” 389 cars per 1 000 people.
Employment by industry: In 1950 almost a third of the labour force worked with agriculture, forestry or fishing. Now this share has gone down to only 2.6 per cent. The largest decline has been in Finland where almost half of the population in 1950 worked in the primary sector to now a little over 4 per cent. The largest increase in employment has happened within the field of Public and personal services – an increase from 17 to 46 per cent.
Martial status - PDF
Abortions PDF
Deaths from cancer PDF
Cinemas PDF
Drink sales PDF
Dwellings PDF
Employment by industry PDF
fertility.pdf
Fertility rates PDF
Food consumption
Population forecast PDF
Immigration PDF
Infant mortality PDF
Life expectancy PDF
Medical staff PDF
Private consumption PDF
Private and public consumption PDF
Suicides
Unemployment PDF
University students PDF
Vehicles PDF
Taxes PDF