Einar H. Dyvik
Research expert covering Nordics and global data for society, economy, and politics
Economic impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Nordics - statistics & facts
In February 2020, the coronavirus (COVID-19) started to spread in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, and severe restrictions were imposed from mid-March. While the four former countries shut down most of their public life, the Swedish government went for a milder approach than their Nordic colleagues, with recommendations instead of restrictions. However, as of January 2023, Denmark was the Nordic country with the highest cumulative number of registered cases of COVID-19. Reason for this could be the rigorous testing protocol in Denmark as well as the fact that Denmark was hit heavily by the Omicron variant in the beginning of 2022. Sweden, on the other hand, is the Nordic country with the highest number of deaths caused by the virus, even though the total amount of registered cases is smaller in comparison to Denmark. Though Sweden’s population is the biggest out of the Nordics, the death rate of registered cases is much higher likely due to the mild restrictions. In October 2021, an official report presented to the Swedish government deemed the response to the virus to be "too slow" and "insufficient."
