Shared mobility in the Nordics - Statistics & facts
Sharing services are becoming increasingly established in cities across the Nordic countries and are forming an integrated part of the transportation offering, particularly in urban areas. Car-sharing and e-scooter fleets in Northern Europe declined between 2022 and 2023, but despite this, both markets saw user numbers and revenue grow during this period. This phenomenon is largely due to legal restrictions on e-scooter fleet sizes and fierce competition between car sharing providers, which is causing fleet numbers to fluctuate significantly. Shared bike fleets, meanwhile, were growing during this period.
However, this landscape is changing quickly as operators that are unable to establish themselves as the dominant force or find a profitable niche are bought up by competitors. As of 2022, the bike and scooter sharing company Bird had still held a market share of close to ten percent in the e-scooter sharing market in the region. Following the company’s bankruptcy in 2023, their micromobility vehicles only remain available in Finland but are no longer available in other Nordic countries.
Despite restrictions on e-scooter fleets, the market is expected to continue growing across all Nordic nations, reaching a total value of nearly 27 million euros by 2029.
A fractured market
While other mobility services, such as ride-hailing, have converged on only a few providers, the shared mobility market remains relatively fractured. Tier is the leading provider for bike sharing and e-scooter sharing across Nordic countries, controlling around a quarter of each market in 2022. However, Voi and Bolt each hold a market share of around 20 percent in both markets, and there are several additional smaller competitors active in the Nordic shared micromobility market. The competitive landscape in the car sharing market is similarly diverse, with Denmark being the notable exception. In Denmark, only two companies GoMore and Share Now, controlled nearly two thirds of the market.However, this landscape is changing quickly as operators that are unable to establish themselves as the dominant force or find a profitable niche are bought up by competitors. As of 2022, the bike and scooter sharing company Bird had still held a market share of close to ten percent in the e-scooter sharing market in the region. Following the company’s bankruptcy in 2023, their micromobility vehicles only remain available in Finland but are no longer available in other Nordic countries.
A rocky relationship with e-scooters
The introduction of shared e-scooters to streets across Europe over recent years has caused excitement, as well as concern and frustration among citizens. The Nordic countries were no exception. Sweden and Norway boast the largest e-scooter markets among Nordic countries today, but e-scooters have had a difficult start. The capitals in both countries, Stockholm and Oslo, banned e-scooters after their first introduction before allowing the sharing schemes to return under stricter rules, including caps on fleet sizes and new parking rules. Relative to the cities’ populations, though, smaller cities lead the rankings in e-scooter fleet sizes in the two countries. In 2022, Helsingborg in Sweden and Stavanger in Norway had the largest number of e-scooters per 10,000 inhabitants, at 157 and 200 scooters respectively.Despite restrictions on e-scooter fleets, the market is expected to continue growing across all Nordic nations, reaching a total value of nearly 27 million euros by 2029.
