Conor Stewart
Research expert covering health & pharmaceuticals in the UK & Europe
Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Nordics - Statistics & Facts
As of July 21, 2022, Denmark had the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases among the Nordic countries, with over 3.2 million. This was followed with over 2.5 million cases in Sweden, and 1.4 million cases in Norway. The region, along with the rest of Europe, reached record number of cases during the winter 2021/22 as the Omicron variant took control. For example, in January 2022 daily cases in Sweden peaked at over 53 thousand cases, and daily cases in Denmark peaked at similar levels in the same month. To this day, the pandemic has cost the lives of over 34 thousand people in the Nordics. Sweden registered by far the largest death toll with over 19.2 thousand deaths, although it has the largest population in the Nordics.
Sweden drew attention throughout the first wave of the pandemic due to the way it has tackled the crisis. Compared to its Nordic neighbors, Sweden took gentler measures and did not implement a strict lockdown. The Swedish government sought to encourage social distancing through recommendations rather than strict rules enforced by law. Following this strategy caused a great amount of debate both within and outside Sweden. As of March 20, 2022, Sweden had recorded over 23,993 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population. On the other hand, Iceland and Denmark now had among the highest rates in Europe. Although, as of March 2022, Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Denmark had recorded remarkably low rates of COVID-19 deaths compared to the rest of Europe.
As of July 21, 2022, Iceland and Denmark had both managed to fully vaccinate around 92 percent of their respective populations against COVID-19. Norway had also managed to vaccinate over 91 percent of adults. By July 2022, almost 60 million vaccine doses had been administered throughout the Nordic countries. Vaccines from five different manufacturers have been distributed and used in the region; Comirnaty/BioNTech, Moderna, Vaxzevria (previously called Astra-Zeneca), Nuvaxovid, and Janssen/Johnson & Johnson.
Sweden drew attention throughout the first wave of the pandemic due to the way it has tackled the crisis. Compared to its Nordic neighbors, Sweden took gentler measures and did not implement a strict lockdown. The Swedish government sought to encourage social distancing through recommendations rather than strict rules enforced by law. Following this strategy caused a great amount of debate both within and outside Sweden. As of March 20, 2022, Sweden had recorded over 23,993 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population. On the other hand, Iceland and Denmark now had among the highest rates in Europe. Although, as of March 2022, Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Denmark had recorded remarkably low rates of COVID-19 deaths compared to the rest of Europe.
As of July 21, 2022, Iceland and Denmark had both managed to fully vaccinate around 92 percent of their respective populations against COVID-19. Norway had also managed to vaccinate over 91 percent of adults. By July 2022, almost 60 million vaccine doses had been administered throughout the Nordic countries. Vaccines from five different manufacturers have been distributed and used in the region; Comirnaty/BioNTech, Moderna, Vaxzevria (previously called Astra-Zeneca), Nuvaxovid, and Janssen/Johnson & Johnson.
