In the Nordic countries, Sweden has the largest population with over ten million inhabitants in 2023. Denmark, Finland, and Norway all have between 5.5 and six million inhabitants, whereas Iceland clearly has the lowest number with only 390,000 people. The population increased in all five Nordic countries over the past 20 years. Aging population In all five Nordic countries, the average age of the population is increasing. In all countries except Iceland, people aged 70 years or more make up the largest age groups. Hence, one of the issues facing the Nordic countries in the coming decades is that of a shrinking working stock, while there will be more elderly people in need of daily care. Births, deaths, and migration The two reasons behind the constantly increasing population in the Nordic countries are that more people are born than people dying, and a positive net migration. Except for Finland, the death rate decreased in all Nordic countries over the past 20 years. However, the fertility rate has also fallen in all five countries in the recent years, meaning that an increasing immigration play an important role in sustaining the population growth.

In both Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, people aged 70 years or more made up the largest age group in 2023. This is especially the case in Finland and Sweden, with ******* and *** million people in this age group, respectively. Meanwhile, people between 30 and 39 years formed the largest age group in Iceland. Sweden is the Nordic country with the largest total population.

With 450,295 square kilometers, Sweden is the largest Nordic country by area size, followed by Finland and Norway. This makes it the fifth largest country in Europe. Meanwhile, Denmark is the smallest of the five Nordic countries with only 43,094 square kilometers, however, the Danish autonomous region of Greenland is significantly larger than any of the Nordic countries, and is almost double the size of the other five combined.

Population

Sweden is also the Nordic country with the largest population. 10.45 million people live in the country. Denmark, Finland, and Norway all have between five and six million inhabitants, whereas only 370,000 people live in Iceland. Meanwhile, Denmark has the highest population density of the five countries. Greenland is the most sparsely populated permanently-inhabited country in the world, followed by the regions of Svalbard and Jan Mayen.

Geography

The five Nordic countries vary geographically. While Denmark is mostly flat, its highest point only stretching around 170 meters above sea level, Norway's highest peak is nearly 2,500 meters high. Moreover, Finland is known for its many lakes and is often called the land of a thousand lakes, whereas Iceland is famous for its volcanoes.

In the Nordic countries, there were more women than men in Denmark and Finland, while there were more men than women in Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Sweden has the largest population of the five countries, while Iceland has the smallest. In 2024, there were **** million men and **** million women living in Sweden, compared to ******* men and ******* women in Iceland.

Over the last 10 years, the average age of the population in Norway increased. In 2014, the average age was 39.4, whereas it had reached 41.3 at the beginning of 2024. In 2024, there were roughly 5.6 million inhabitants in the Scandinavian country.

The total population of Sweden stood at 10.59 million people in 2024. Between 1980 and 2024, the total population rose by 2.27 million people, though the increase followed an uneven trajectory rather than a consistent upward trend. The total population will steadily rise by 460,000 people over the period from 2024 to 2030, reflecting a clear upward trend.This indicator describes the total population in the country at hand. This total population of the country consists of all persons falling within the scope of the census.

Sweden was the Nordic country that received the highest number of immigrants from 2001 to 2021. In 2021, nearly ****** people immigrated to Sweden, but was overtaken by Denmark in 2022. Sweden was also the country in the region with the highest net migration over the last years. Iceland, which also has the smallest population of the five, had the lowest number of immigrants. Migration to Sweden As the Nordic country with the highest number of migrants, nearly ** percent of survey respondents consider immigration an important issue for Swedish society, more than other European countries. In 2023, most immigrants to Sweden were Swedes returning to the country, followed by India, Poland, and Germany. The need for migration in Nordic nations Migrants often fill in gaps within labor markets that local populations cannot fill. In Nordic nations, these gaps are becoming more apparent as fertility rates decrease. Over the past decade, crude birth rates have decreased in all Nordic countries. Meanwhile, those aged 70 years and older are becoming larger portions of Nordic societies. Declining birth rates combined with aging societies mean that labor markets will be challenged to have enough workers.

The Swedish capital Stockholm has the largest population of the five Nordic capitals with **** million inhabitants. This is unsurprising as Sweden also is the Nordic country with the largest population. The capital area of Copenhagen is slightly larger than that of Helsinki, whereas Iceland's capital Reykjavik had the smallest population with ******* inhabitants. Oslo's rapid population decline in 2024 is explained by only the numbers for Oslo municipality being reported.

Iceland had the highest employment-to-population ratio among women over 15 years of age in the Nordic countries between 2012 and 2022. In 2022, more than two thirds of the country's female population was employed. Sweden had the second highest ratio until 2020, but its ratio dropped below Norway's in 2021. On the other hand, Finland had the lowest, with only slightly more than half of the female population in employment. Norway's ratio dropped significantly in 2014 after the fall of the oil price, on which the country's economy rely.

Over the past 24 years, the total population of Sweden increased steadily. In 2000, there were nearly 8.9 million people living in the Scandinavian country, and this had increased to 10.58 million in 2024. The population growth is expected to continue over the next decades, and it is estimated that the population of Sweden will reach over 13 million by 2080. Immigration drove the population growth One main reason for the steadily increasing is the number of immigrants arriving in the country. Even though the number of immigrants fell since the peak in 2016, the population with a foreign background increased steadily over the past 10 years. Syrians make up the largest group of foreigners The high number of immigrants arriving in Sweden in 2016 was caused by the high number or refugees fleeing the Syrian Civil War. As of 2022, Syrians made up the largest foreign group residing in the country. Next to refugees from the Middle East, immigrants from other EU-members such as Poland and neighboring Finland constituted a high number of the foreign-born citizens living in the country.

The population density in Sweden increased over the past 10 years, reaching 25.9 inhabitants per square kilometer in 2023. During that year, the population of Sweden reached 10.55 million.

Stockholm county had the highest population density

Sweden consists of 21 counties, administrative regions that primarily control public healthcare, public transport, and culture within the county. Among these, the most populated county is the capital region, Stockholm county, with a population density of 375 inhabitants per square kilometer in 2022. Stockholm county is followed by Skåne, with 129 inhabitants per square kilometer. The least populated county is Norrbotten, with only 2.6 inhabitants per square kilometer.

Land area of the Scandinavian countries

Though the population density in Sweden is increasing, the country still has a lot of surface area compared to its population. Of the Scandinavian countries, Sweden is the largest with a land area of over 447,000 square kilometers, but Norway is larger if the islands of Svalbard and Jan Mayen are taken into account.

In 2024, Iceland was the Nordic country with the highest degree of urbanization, with over ** percent of the population living in cities, towns, or suburbs. It is also the only Nordic country with a higher degree of urbanization than the EU average. Norway is the country with the lowest degree of urbanization, but the share was unusually high between 2021 and 2023, which is probably down to a change in the classification of towns and suburbs, as a municipal reform altered the number and size of municipalities. The reform was revoked at the beginning of 2024.

The fertility rates have fallen in all five Nordic countries over the last years. However, in 2021, the birth rates increased again in all five Nordics countries, besides in Sweden, where the fertility rate stayed the same. This can be explained by the higher number of babies born during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, Iceland had the highest fertility rate of the Nordic countries, with *** children born per woman in reproductive age. The global trend of decreasing fertility The Nordics are not the only region with decreasing fertility rates. Globally, fertility rates have been on a steady decline since 2000. While lower-income countries have had more significant declines, they still have more children born per woman than higher-income countries. In 2000, almost * children were born per woman in low-income countries, decreasing to **** in 2021. By comparison, nearly **** children were born per woman in high-income countries, falling slightly to **** by 2021. Overall, in 2023, Niger, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo had the highest fertility rates, while Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore had the lowest fertility rates. Impacts of low fertility Greater access to education, challenges between work-life balance, and the costs of raising children can all be linked to falling fertility rates. However, this decline is not without consequences, and many countries are facing social and economic challenges because of aging and shrinking populations. For example, in Japan, where nearly ** percent of the country is aged 65 or older, an increasing proportion of the government expenditure is going towards social security benefits. Moreover, the very low unemployment rate in Japan can partially be attributed to having a shrinking labor force and fewer people to support the economy.

The number of foreign citizens as a share of the total population in Sweden increased steadily from 2010 to 2023. While 1.8 million foreign inhabitants lived in the country in 2010, the number had increased to 2.87 million in 2023. Over the same period, the number of Swedish inhabitants increased from 7.62 million to 7.69 million. Syrians made up the largest group of foreign-born citizens in the Nordic country that year.

People born in Syria made up the largest group of Sweden's foreign-born population in 2023. Nearly ******* people born in Syria lived in Sweden as of 2023. Iraqis made up the second-largest group of foreign-born citizens, followed by Sweden's neighboring country, Finland. The total number of foreign-born citizens living in the Scandinavian country increased over the past 10 years. Migration contributes to population growth Sweden's positive net migration rate meant that it's population increased steadily since 2000. In 2022, over 100,000 people immigrated to Sweden, which was still significantly lower than the record year 2016. Syrians fleeing civil war The record number of refugees arriving in 2016 was driven by Syrians fleeing the Civil War in the country. Following the Arab spring and protests for democracy in 2011, fighting broke out between the Syrian national army and several armed factions. Several million people fled the country as a result, some of them seeking refuge in Sweden.

In 2021, the number of divorces decreased throughout all countries of the Nordic region. From 2011 to 2021, the total number of divorces decreased in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, whereas it increased in Iceland..

In the third quarter of 2020, the most popular subscription video-on-demand platform in Sweden was Netflix. The daily reach amounted to ** percent, while the share of young people aged 9 to 19 years watching content on Netflix was even ** percent. Second most viewed SVOD service among the total population in the Scandinavian country was Viaplay, with a daily reach of ***** percent.

****** was the Nordic country with the highest social media penetration rate as of February 2025 with **** percent of the population using social media, followed by Iceland with **** percent. Overall, **** percent of the population of Norway reported to be using social media actively. Number of social media users in the Nordic countries  Over *** million individuals used social media in Sweden in 2024. In 2021 Danish social media users were over *** million, while Norwegians and Finns were slightly fewer. Which social media apps?  Regarding the daily used social media apps in the Nordic countries, Facebook led the ranking over the period from 2016 to 2019. As of 2019, over ** percent of the interviewed Nordic citizens used the Facebook app, followed by ** percent who used Instagram. TikTok was reported to be used by *** percent of the participants that year.

The access to services of banks or similar organizations differs widely worldwide depending on the country. While the whole population in all the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, Australia, and Canada had access to banks (meaning an “unbanked” population of **** percent), countries like Morocco and Vietnam had a higher unbanked population. Morocco was the country with the lowest share of bank account owners: less than ***** percent as of 2023. Vietnam, Egypt, and the Philippines were other countries with very high share of unbanked populations. Why are people unbanked? Countries with high shares of unbanked, such as Morocco and the abovementioned, are typically less stable economies with a less developed financial system. It is generally also countries where the citizens have little trust in the banking system. Although these countries have the highest shares of unbanked, the lack of access to services of banks or similar organizations is also present in more developed and financially stable countries as well. In the United States for example, ***** percent of the population is unbanked. The most common reason for this, according to U.S. financial households in 2019, was that they had too little money. Financial services often cost money and comes with fees, and without sufficient finances, customers might find it too expensive to open a bank account. Did the situation change after COVID-19? It can be seen, at least in Latin American countries, that the share of unbanked population dropped because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as various social benefit programs were introduced to alleviate the economic impact of the pandemic. The change in unbanked population was especially apparent in Brazil, where the share declined by ** percent in 2020.

As of February 2025, Sweden had approximately 8.65 million YouTube users, while Denmark had around 4.7 million. This substantial user base highlights the platform's significance in the region's digital landscape, where it serves as a key source of entertainment and information for millions across Scandinavia. Norway had approximately 4.34 million YouTube users, while Iceland had approximately 313,000 YouTube users as of the examined period. Gender balance and usage patterns YouTube's appeal is relatively balanced between gendered demographics in the Nordic region. In Denmark and Finland, women accounted for 50 percent of the platform's audience. In Norway, YouTube’s reach appears particularly strong, with almost one-third of internet users reporting daily access to YouTube in the fourth quarter of 2023. This frequent engagement underscores the platform's integration into daily media consumption habits across the region.

YouTube content creators Nordic countries foster a vibrant YouTube creator ecosystem, with local channels garnering significant attention. Despite reducing his online presence recently, Swedish YouTuber PewDiePie has been a trailblazer for global content creators. In June 2024, PewDiePie’s channel counted around 111 million subscribers, still ranking among the most popular content creators in his native Sweden. Despite his global popularity, Swedish audiences have started preferring channels with content specifically tailored to their language or comedy style, such as the trio IJustWantToBeCool2 and Familjen Lundell, which ranked as the most popular channels in Sweden for reach and user engagement.