The Nordic alcohol statistics are compiled annually and published in Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs (NAD) as a service to the Nordic alcohol policy field. The overview includes data on alcohol sales, distribution, consumer expenditure, state revenue, real prices, and related harm. In this overview report we account for the developments in 2010–2015, and point out some circumstances that may explain some of the changes. Specifications of logics underpinning the table and figure contents are accounted for in the footnotes of the tables and figures.
Decreasing sale and consumption
Based on the total registered alcoholic beverage sales statistics, there is a steady overall declining trend in alcohol purchase in all Nordic countries (Figure 1). In Norway, the total amount of wine sales (in litres) has grown, while the annual sale of spirits is declining (Table 1, columns 1 and 2 from left). The purchase of strong beer in Finland has been stable at around 18,500 (1000 litres) during the same time, with a small rise in 2015. If the proposed new alcohol law is passed1 and stronger beer products are introduced in retail shops, the amount of stronger beer sales is expected to rise in correlation with availability.
Figure 1.
Total registered alcohol sales (litres of pure alcohol per capita aged 15 years and older).
Table 1.
Annual sales of alcohol, 1000 litres.
| Spirits | Wines1 | of which | Long drinks4 | Beer | of which | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fortified wines2 | Light wine3 | Strong beer5 | Medium beer6 | |||||
| Denmark | ||||||||
| 2010 | 16,792 | 175,388 | – | – | – | 382,572 | – | – |
| 2011 | 17,501 | 172,818 | – | – | – | 379,669 | – | – |
| 2012 | 18,162 | 142,709 | – | – | – | 356,760 | – | – |
| 2013 | 18,931 | 151,437 | – | – | – | 353,157 | – | – |
| 2014 | 19,867 | 152,620 | – | – | – | 365,080 | – | – |
| 2015 | 20,272 | 150,979 | – | – | – | 354,398 | – | – |
| Finland | ||||||||
| 2010 | 30,126 | 114,956 | 4,150 | 110,806 | 48,227 | 438,079 | 18,512 | 419,567 |
| 2011 | 29,164 | 115,385 | 3,806 | 111,579 | 50,334 | 453,850 | 18,767 | 435,083 |
| 2012 | 27,992 | 109,299 | 3,799 | 105,500 | 47,543 | 422,701 | 18,203 | 404,498 |
| 2013 | 26,574 | 106,204 | 3,413 | 102,791 | 45,258 | 427,408 | 18,452 | 408,956 |
| 2014 | 25,162 | 101,907 | 3,185 | 98,722 | 44,350 | 418,126 | 18,528 | 399,598 |
| 2015 | 24,415 | 97,588 | 2,900 | 94,688 | 40,907 | 414,660 | 18,946 | 395,714 |
| Norway | ||||||||
| 2010 | 12,587 | 72,900 | – | – | 11,618 | 255,877 | 2,452 | 251,036 |
| 2011 | 12,072 | 74,108 | – | – | 11,824 | 253,370 | 3,149 | 247,948 |
| 2012 | 11,573 | 74,897 | – | – | 12,416 | 242,076 | 3,794 | 235,990 |
| 2013 | 11,506 | 76,604 | – | – | 13,013 | 244,980 | 5,985 | 236,618 |
| 2014 | 11,192 | 75,801 | – | – | 13,774 | 241,538 | – | – |
| 2015 | 11,158 | 75,939 | – | – | 14,106 | 240,446 | – | – |
| Sweden7 | ||||||||
| 2010 | 27,217 | 222,372 | 2,075 | 220,297 | – | 442,596 | 304,996 | 137,600 |
| 2011 | 25,292 | 229,465 | 1,782 | 227,683 | – | 451,107 | 306,907 | 144,200 |
| 2012 | 23,707 | 231,208 | 1,775 | 229,433 | – | 439,036 | 308,236 | 130,800 |
| 2013 | 24,270 | 237,503 | 1,651 | 235,852 | – | 439,230 | 315,439 | 123,791 |
| 2014 | 22,815 | 234,363 | 1,549 | 232,815 | – | 439,138 | 318,737 | 120,401 |
| 2015 | 23,813 | 233,006 | 1,740 | 231,266 | – | 437,984 | 321,092 | 116,892 |
| Iceland8 | ||||||||
| 2010 | 828 | 3,146 | – | – | – | 14,968 | – | – |
| 2011 | 798 | 3,210 | – | – | – | 14,430 | – | – |
| 2012 | 756 | 3,315 | – | – | – | 14,466 | – | – |
| 2013 | 737 | 3,443 | – | – | – | 14,473 | – | – |
| 2014 | 753 | 3,491 | – | – | – | 14,971 | – | – |
| 2015 | 766 | 3,556 | – | – | – | 15,280 | – | – |
| Greenland | ||||||||
| 2010 | 113 | 700 | 13 | 687 | – | 7,077 | 156 | 6,792 |
| 2011 | 104 | 673 | 12 | 662 | – | 6,711 | 142 | 6,403 |
| 2012 | 98 | 702 | 12 | 691 | – | 6,675 | 152 | 6,272 |
| 2013 | 91 | 672 | 11 | 661 | – | 5,910 | 122 | 5,654 |
| 2014 | 84 | 608 | 8 | 600 | – | 6,002 | 181 | 5,624 |
| 2015 | 87 | 629 | 13 | 617 | 5,592 | 129 | 5,250 | |
| Faroe Islands | ||||||||
| 2010 | 225 | 467 | 10 | 457 | – | 2,330 | – | 2,330 |
| 2011 | 208 | 488 | 9 | 479 | – | 2,214 | – | 2,214 |
| 2012 | 200 | 520 | 8 | 512 | – | 2,274 | 88 | 2,186 |
| 2013 | 192 | 537 | 9 | 528 | – | 2,132 | 89 | 2,043 |
| 2014 | 191 | 549 | 8 | 541 | – | 2,177 | 96 | 2,081 |
| 2015 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
1Sweden: Alcoholic beverages produced through fermentation of grapes or grape juice. Alcoholic beverages produced through fermentation of fruits, berries or other plant parts (e.g., cider) are also shown in this category.
2Sweden: Alcohol content of more than 15% but no more than 22% by volume. Greenland: Wine with an alcohol content of 15.1–22.09% by volume. Faroe Islands: Includes beer of 4.6–5.8% by volume sold by breweries.
3Finland: Includes cider. Sweden: Alcohol content of more than 2.25% but no more than 15% by volume. Greenland: Wine with an alcohol content of 9.1–15.09% by volume. Faroe Islands: Includes cider.
4Norway: Fruit drink, includes alcopops. Sweden: Long drinks are included in the spirits category.
5Sweden: Beer with an alcohol content of more than 3.5% by volume. Greenland: Beer with an alcohol content of 5.1–9.09% by volume. Faroe Islands: Beer with an alcohol content above 5.8% by volume.
6Sweden: Beer with an alcohol content of more than 2.25% but no more than 3.5% by volume. Greenland: Beer with an alcohol content of 3.1–5.09% by volume. Faroe Islands: Beer with an alcohol content of 4.6–5.8% by volume.
7Sweden: Revised data from reporting agency, The Public Health Agency of Sweden. Data updated accordingly.
8Iceland: Refers to sales by the retail monopoly only.
The overall decline in annual sales in litres of pure alcohol per capita (aged over 15 years) is shown in the far-right column in Table 2. Part of this circumstance can be attributed to the trend of increasing youth sobriety that started to show towards the late 2000s. While unregistered consumption has remained stable over the years in all Nordic countries (Table 3, right-hand column), the total consumption in litres has decreased throughout (Table 3, left-hand column).
Table 2.
Annual sales of alcoholic beverages per capita.
| Litres per capita aged 15 years or over | Litres of pure alcohol per capita aged 15 years or over | Litres of pure alcohol per capita | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spirits | Wines1 | Cider and RTDs2 | Beer3 | Spirits | Wines1 | Cider and RTDs2 | Beer3 | Total | Total | |
| Denmark | ||||||||||
| 2010 | 3.7 | 38.6 | – | 84.2 | 1.5 | 4.9 | 0.1 | 3.9 | 10.3 | 8.4 |
| 2011 | 3.8 | 37.9 | – | 83.2 | 1.5 | 5.1 | 0.1 | 3.8 | 10.6 | 8.6 |
| 2012 | 3.9 | 30.8 | – | 77.0 | 1.5 | 4.1 | 0.1 | 3.5 | 9.3 | 7.6 |
| 2013 | 4.1 | 32.7 | – | 75.8 | 1.6 | 4.3 | 0.1 | 3.5 | 9.5 | 7.8 |
| 2014 | 4.3 | 32.8 | – | 78.4 | 1.6 | 4.4 | 0.1 | 3.6 | 9.7 | 8.0 |
| 2015 | 4.3 | 31.8 | – | 74.7 | 1.6 | 4.2 | 0.1 | 3.4 | 9.3 | 7.8 |
| Finland | ||||||||||
| 2010 | 6.7 | 14.5 | 21.8 | 97.6 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 4.5 | 9.7 | 8.1 |
| 2011 | 6.5 | 15.0 | 21.7 | 100.6 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 4.6 | 9.8 | 8.2 |
| 2012 | 6.2 | 14.8 | 19.7 | 93.2 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 4.3 | 9.3 | 7.8 |
| 2013 | 5.8 | 14.5 | 18.8 | 93.8 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 4.3 | 9.1 | 7.6 |
| 2014 | 5.5 | 14.1 | 17.8 | 91.4 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 4.2 | 8.8 | 7.3 |
| 2015 | 5.3 | 13.7 | 16.4 | 90.3 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 4.1 | 8.5 | 7.1 |
| Norway | ||||||||||
| 2010 | 3.2 | 18.5 | 2.9 | 64.9 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 2.9 | 6.6 | 5.3 |
| 2011 | 3.0 | 18.5 | 3.0 | 63.4 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 2.8 | 6.4 | 5.2 |
| 2012 | 2.9 | 18.4 | 3.1 | 59.6 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 2.7 | 6.2 | 5.1 |
| 2013 | 2.8 | 18.6 | 3.2 | 59.4 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 2.7 | 6.2 | 5.1 |
| 2014 | 2.7 | 18.1 | 3.3 | 57.8 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 2.6 | 6.1 | 5.0 |
| 2015 | 2.6 | 17.9 | 3.3 | 56.8 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 2.6 | 6.0 | 4.9 |
| Sweden4 | ||||||||||
| 2010 | 3.5 | 28.3 | – | 56.4 | 1.1 | 3.5 | – | 2.7 | 7.3 | 6.1 |
| 2011 | 3.2 | 29.1 | – | 57.2 | 1.1 | 3.6 | – | 2.7 | 7.3 | 6.1 |
| 2012 | 3.0 | 29.1 | – | 55.3 | 1.1 | 3.6 | – | 2.7 | 7.3 | 6.0 |
| 2013 | 3.0 | 29.7 | – | 54.9 | 1.1 | 3.6 | – | 2.6 | 7.3 | 6.1 |
| 2014 | 2.8 | 29.1 | – | 54.4 | 1.0 | 3.6 | – | 2.7 | 7.3 | 6.0 |
| 2015 | 2.9 | 28.6 | – | 53.9 | 1.0 | 3.5 | – | 2.6 | 7.1 | 5.9 |
| Iceland5 | ||||||||||
| 2010 | 3.3 | 12.5 | – | 59.6 | 1.4 | 1.5 | – | 3.0 | 5.9 | 4.7 |
| 2011 | 3.2 | 12.7 | – | 57.3 | 0.9 | 1.5 | – | 2.9 | 5.3 | 4.2 |
| 2012 | 3.0 | 13.1 | – | 57.1 | 0.9 | 1.5 | – | 2.9 | 5.3 | 4.2 |
| 2013 | 2.9 | 13.5 | – | 56.7 | 0.9 | 1.6 | – | 2.9 | 5.4 | 4.2 |
| 2014 | 2.9 | 13.5 | – | 57.8 | 0.9 | 1.5 | – | 2.9 | 5.3 | 4.2 |
| 2015 | 2.9 | 13.6 | – | 58.3 | 0.9 | 1.6 | – | 3.0 | 5.5 | 4.3 |
| Greenland | ||||||||||
| 2010 | 2.6 | 16.1 | – | 162.4 | 1.0 | 2.0 | – | 7.5 | 10.4 | 8.1 |
| 2011 | 2.4 | 15.3 | – | 152.9 | 0.9 | 1.9 | – | 7.0 | 9.8 | 7.6 |
| 2012 | 2.2 | 15.8 | – | 150.6 | 0.8 | 2.0 | – | 6.8 | 9.6 | 7.6 |
| 2013 | 2.1 | 15.3 | – | 134.3 | 0.8 | 1.9 | – | 6.1 | 8.8 | 6.9 |
| 2014 | 1.9 | 13.8 | – | 136.5 | 0.7 | 1.7 | – | 6.2 | 8.6 | 6.8 |
| 2015 | 2.0 | 14.3 | – | 127.2 | 0.7 | 1.8 | – | 5.8 | 8.3 | 6.5 |
| Faroe Islands | ||||||||||
| 2010 | 5.9 | 12.3 | – | 61.4 | 2.2 | 1.4 | – | 3.1 | 6.7 | 5.3 |
| 2011 | 5.5 | 12.3 | – | 58.3 | 2.0 | 1.4 | – | 3.0 | 6.4 | 5.0 |
| 2012 | 5.3 | 13.7 | – | 60.1 | 1.9 | 1.5 | – | 3.1 | 6.6 | 5.2 |
| 2013 | 5.1 | 14.2 | – | 56.2 | 1.8 | 1.5 | – | 3.0 | 6.3 | 5.0 |
| 2014 | 5.1 | 14.5 | – | 57.4 | 1.8 | 1.6 | – | 3.0 | 6.4 | 5.0 |
| 2015 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
RTD = Ready-To-Drink beverages..
1Finland: Does not include cider. Sweden: Alcoholic beverages produced through fermentation of grapes or grape juice. Alcoholic beverages produced through fermentation of fruits, berries or other plant parts (e.g., cider) are also shown in this category.
2Norway: Fruit drink, includes alcopops. Sweden: Cider is included in the wine category. RTDs are mainly categorised as spirits, but also in some cases as wine or beer depending on their production process.
3Sweden: Beer with an alcohol content of more than 2.25% by volume (i.e., strong beer as well as medium-strength beer). Faroe Islands: Includes beer of 4.6–5.8% by volume and cider of 4.7% sold by breweries.
4Sweden: Some numbers differ from last year’s compilation due to revisions.
5Iceland: Data from 2010–2015 refer only to sales by the retail monopoly. Data for on-premise sales are excluded for these years.
Table 3.
Total consumption and unrecorded consumption.
| Litres of pure alcohol per capita aged 15 years or over | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total consumption | Unregistered consumption | |
| Finland1 | ||
| 2010 | 12.0 | 2.3 |
| 2011 | 12.1 | 2.3 |
| 2012 | 11.5 | 2.2 |
| 2013 | 11.5 | 2.5 |
| 2014 | 11.1 | 2.4 |
| 2015 | 10.8 | 2.3 |
| Norway2 | ||
| 2010 | 7.6 | 1.0 |
| 2011 | 7.5 | 1.1 |
| 2012 | 7.3 | 1.1 |
| 2013 | 7.4 | 1.2 |
| 2014 | 7.2 | 1.1 |
| 2015 | 7.0 | 1.0 |
| Sweden | ||
| 2010 | 9.5 | 2.2 |
| 2011 | 9.4 | 2.0 |
| 2012 | 9.2 | 1.9 |
| 2013 | 9.9 | 2.5 |
| 2014 | 9.4 | 2.2 |
| 2015 | 9.2 | 2.0 |
| Faroe Islands | ||
| 2010 | 8.5 | 1.8 |
| 2011 | 8.3 | 1.9 |
| 2012 | 8.6 | 2.0 |
| 2013 | 8.4 | 2.1 |
| 2014 | 8.9 | 2.5 |
| 2015 | – | – |
1Finland: Some numbers differ from last year’s compilation due to revisions.
2Unregistered consumption is estimated as twice the tax-free sale of alcohol at Norwegian airports.
Figure 2 portrays the share of different beverages in the overall registered sales in the year 2015.
Figure 2.
Beverage-specific sales as percentage of total registered alcohol sales in 2015.*
*Calculations are based on volumes of pure alcohol in litres per capita aged 15 years and older in 2015. The data for Iceland are for monopoly retail only.
Retail sales
The percentage of licensed servings according to beverage type has remained stable in Finland, Sweden and Norway in the period 2010–2015. Beer is a more usual beverage per serving in Sweden and Norway, whereas wines and ciders are typical in Finland (Table 4). Still, taking into account the ways in which beverages are grouped in the statistics (footnotes 1 and 2 in Table 4), what people drink in restaurants in these countries is still somewhat similar.
Table 4.
Percentage of licensed serving in restaurants.
| Spirits | Wines1 | Beer2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finland | |||
| 2010 | 12 | 13 | 15 |
| 2011 | 12 | 13 | 15 |
| 2012 | 12 | 13 | 15 |
| 2013 | 12 | 13 | 15 |
| 2014 | 11 | 13 | 15 |
| 2015 | 11 | 13 | 15 |
| Sweden | |||
| 2010 | 14 | 9 | 26 |
| 2011 | 13 | 10 | 26 |
| 2012 | 13 | 9 | 26 |
| 2013 | 17 | 10 | 27 |
| 2014 | 15 | 9 | 26 |
| 2015 | 15 | 9 | 27 |
| Norway | |||
| 2010 | 11 | 8 | 25 |
| 2011 | 12 | 8 | 25 |
| 2012 | 12 | 9 | 25 |
| 2013 | 12 | 8 | 24 |
| 2014 | – | – | – |
| 2015 | – | – | – |
1Finland: Includes cider. Sweden: Alcoholic beverages produced through fermentation of fruits, berries or other plant parts (e.g., cider) are included in the wine category.
2Sweden: Beer with an alcohol content of more than 3.5% by volume (i.e., strong beer).
The number of retail sales premises of alcoholic beverages in Table 5 demonstrates two things. First, in the far-left column, one can see that the availability in terms of density of monopoly shops has increased in Finland, Sweden and Norway. Still, in relation to population size, Finland’s alcohol monopoly has more shops than any of the other monopolies. The second trend pertains to the ways in which the alcohol retail industry is developing in these three countries (columns 2 and 3 from left). The total number of retail spots is declining, although there is an increasing number of monopoly shops. This reflects an overall trend in the grocery store industry: small neighbourhood units are merged into bigger and more scarce supermarket units (downward trend in Table 5, second column from right). Overall, availability in terms of retail sale points has been higher in Finland than in the rest of the Nordic countries (column far right, Table 5). The stable availability measurement in the far right column (total per 1000 capita) also shows that overall availability in terms of sales points has not decreased even if retail shops units are becoming larger and more scarce.
Table 5.
Retail sales network of alcoholic beverages.
| Alcoholic beverages1 | Beer only2 | Total | Total per 1000capita | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finland3 | ||||
| 2010 | 343 | 5,755 | 6,098 | 1.1 |
| 2011 | 348 | 5,586 | 5,934 | 1.1 |
| 2012 | 351 | 5,511 | 5,862 | 1.1 |
| 2013 | 350 | 5,371 | 5,721 | 1.0 |
| 2014 | 352 | 5,282 | 5,634 | 1.0 |
| 2015 | 351 | 5,264 | 5,615 | 1.0 |
| Norway | ||||
| 2010 | 259 | 4,176 | 4,435 | 0.9 |
| 2011 | 267 | 4,121 | 4,388 | 0.9 |
| 2012 | 278 | 4,103 | 4,381 | 0.9 |
| 2013 | 288 | 4,172 | 4,460 | 0.9 |
| 2014 | 297 | 4,233 | 4,530 | 0.9 |
| 2015 | 306 | 4,257 | 4,563 | 0.9 |
| Sweden4 | ||||
| 2010 | 414 | 7,600 | 8,014 | 0.9 |
| 2011 | 418 | 7,100 | 7,518 | 0.8 |
| 2012 | 421 | 7,000 | 7,421 | 0.8 |
| 2013 | 426 | 6,900 | 7,326 | 0.8 |
| 2014 | 431 | 6,700 | 7,154 | 0.7 |
| 2015 | 436 | – | – | – |
| Iceland | ||||
| 2015 | 50 | – | 50 | – |
| Faroe Islands | ||||
| 2010 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 0.2 |
| 2011 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 0.3 |
| 2012 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 0.3 |
| 2013 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 0.3 |
| 2014 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 0.3 |
| 2015 | – | – | – | – |
1Sweden: Number of retail shops for alcoholic beverages (Systembolaget shops) at the end of each year. Norway: Number of retail shops for spirits, wine and strong beer (with an alcohol content of more than 4.75% by volume).
2Norway: Medium beer. Finland: Beverages produced by fermentation and containing no more than 4.7% alcohol by volume. Sweden: Number of retail shops for medium-strength beer (i.e., with an alcohol content of more than 2.25% but no more than 3.5% by volume) reported to Swedish municipalities at the end of each year. Rounded to the nearest hundred. Faroe Islands: Only breweries sell beer.
3Finland: Some numbers differ from last year’s compilation due to revisions.
4Sweden: Some data for 2015 not publicly available from reporting agency, The Public Health Agency of Sweden. Imputation of missing data lagging.
Licensed servings
The overall picture on licensed serving premises reflects the size of the countries, but also the economic situation. In Finland, which has suffered from economic stagnation, there is an overall decrease in the number of licensed servings (premises of different kinds, see footnotes, Table 6). Over the years the total numbers have nevertheless remained rather stable, at around 8200 licensed servings throughout the period (far-right column, Table 6). In Sweden, which has witnessed steady economic prosperity, alcohol is increasingly served in many different contexts and premises (far-right column, Table 6). Again, in view of population size, the availability according to this logic still seems rather similar in all countries. In Finland, the distribution of alcoholic beverages through licensed servings has decreased slightly yet steadily for over 20 years on premises that serve only beer, and has increased slightly in those with full rights to serve all beverage products. If the proposed alcohol law is passed, more overarching rights to serve alcoholic beverages are to substitute older ones that concern only, for example, beer. The medium-beer column is thus expected to merge into those on the left-hand side. Overall, the Nordic countries follow the long trend of not drinking much out in restaurants.
Table 6.
Distribution network for alcoholic beverages through licensed serving.
| Alcoholic beverages1 | Wine and beer only2 | Beer only3 | Medium beer only4 | Others5 | Total6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark | ||||||
| 2010 | 11,138 | – | – | – | – | 11,138 |
| 2011 | 11,981 | – | – | – | – | 11,981 |
| 2012 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2013 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2014 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2015 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Finland | ||||||
| 2010 | 5,812 | 312 | – | 2,178 | – | 8,302 |
| 2011 | 5,847 | 319 | – | 2,112 | – | 8,228 |
| 2012 | 5,916 | 351 | – | 2,024 | – | 8,291 |
| 2013 | 5,919 | 372 | – | 1,937 | – | 8,228 |
| 2014 | 5,935 | 395 | – | 1,880 | – | 8,210 |
| 2015 | 6,032 | 410 | – | 1,800 | – | 8,242 |
| Norway | ||||||
| 2010 | 6,163 | 1,171 | 42 | – | – | 7,376 |
| 2011 | 6,209 | 1,118 | 64 | – | – | 7,391 |
| 2012 | 6,272 | 935 | 50 | – | – | 7,257 |
| 2013 | 6,376 | 964 | 59 | – | – | 7,399 |
| 2014 | 6,609 | 806 | 67 | – | – | 7,482 |
| 2015 | 6,659 | 871 | 59 | – | – | 7,589 |
| Sweden | ||||||
| 2010 | 10,214 | 712 | 12 | – | 1,769 | 12,707 |
| 2011 | 10,461 | 664 | 13 | – | 1,945 | 13,083 |
| 2012 | 10,843 | 638 | 17 | – | 2,120 | 13,618 |
| 2013 | 11,199 | 632 | 18 | – | 2,294 | 14,143 |
| 2014 | 11,513 | 633 | 18 | – | 2,396 | 14,560 |
| 2015 | 11,653 | 628 | 19 | – | 2,515 | 14,825 |
| Iceland | ||||||
| 2010 | 1,273 | – | – | – | – | 1,273 |
| 2011 | 1,273 | – | – | – | – | 1,273 |
| 2012 | 1,273 | – | – | – | – | 1,273 |
| 2013 | 1,273 | – | – | – | – | 1,273 |
| 2014 | 1,273 | – | – | – | – | 1,273 |
| 2015 | 1,273 | – | – | – | – | 1,273 |
| Faroe Islands | ||||||
| 2010 | 35 | 1 | – | – | – | 26 |
| 2011 | 25 | 2 | – | – | – | 27 |
| 2012 | 26 | 2 | – | – | – | 28 |
| 2013 | 28 | 2 | – | – | – | 30 |
| 2014 | 30 | 2 | – | – | – | 32 |
| 2015 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
1Sweden: Permanent licences to serve all types of alcoholic beverages to the general public.
2Sweden: Permanent licences to serve all types of alcoholic beverages except for spirits to the general public.
3Sweden: Permanent licences to serve strong beer to the general public.
4Finland: Beverages produced by fermentation and containing no more alcohol than 4.7% by volume. Sweden: Beer with an alcohol content of more than 2.25% but no more than 3.5% by volume does not require a serving licence.
5Sweden: Includes permanent licences to serve alcoholic beverages to private parties, traffic serving (domestic flights, ships and trains) to the general public, licences to provide tastings to the general public, licences to serve alcoholic beverages through catering and others.
6Denmark: Licences usually include spirits, wine and beer. Sweden: Note that it is the number of serving licences that is shown here and not the number of licence-holders. Faroe Islands: Licences usually include spirits, wine and beer.
Household expenditures and state revenues
The percentage of household expenses on alcohol (Table 7) is much higher in Finland than in the other Nordic countries (except Greenland, where current numbers are not available). This relates to the level of earnings, which are on average higher in Denmark, Norway and Sweden than in Finland. Consequently the proportion spent on any given product will be higher in relation to overall disposable income also for other products than alcoholic beverages. The difference is clear, as the far-right column in Table 7 shows: Swedish households spend on average 1.9% of their household consumption expenditure on alcohol, while the corresponding figure for Finnish households is over 4%. However, there is an increase in the Finnish numbers over the years, which may reflect the decreasing overall alcohol consumption (also partly related to economic realities). The total consumer expenditure (in millions) shows an increasing trend for all countries (column second from right, Table 7). Alcohol purchases are growing among Nordic consumers.
Table 7.
Consumer expenditure on alcohol in the currency of each country (millions).
| Consumer expenditure on alcohol | Beer3 | Total | Household consumption expenditure | Consumer expenditure as a % of household consumption expenditure | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spirits1 | Wines1 | Long drinks2 | |||||
| Denmark | |||||||
| 2010 | 8,883 | – | 4,474 | 13,357 | 840,966 | 1.6 | |
| 2011 | 9,525 | – | 4,524 | 14,049 | 858,958 | 1.6 | |
| 2012 | – | – | – | 14,882 | 895,639 | 1.7 | |
| 2013 | – | – | – | 15,841 | 891,710 | 1.8 | |
| 2014 | – | – | – | 15,116 | 905,913 | 1.7 | |
| 2015 | – | – | – | 15,707 | 932,248 | 1.7 | |
| Finland4 | |||||||
| 2010 | 1,089 | 1,099 | 342 | 1,870 | 4,400 | 94,456 | 4.7 |
| 2011 | 1,085 | 1,143 | 367 | 1,934 | 4,530 | 100,731 | 4.5 |
| 2012 | 1,090 | 1,162 | 372 | 1,979 | 4,603 | 104,092 | 4.4 |
| 2013 | 1,043 | 1,155 | 361 | 1,998 | 4,556 | 106,055 | 4.3 |
| 2014 | 1,000 | 1,158 | 362 | 2,052 | 4,572 | 107,925 | 4.2 |
| 2015 | 978 | 1,125 | 338 | 2,022 | 4,464 | 109,294 | 4.1 |
| Norway5 | |||||||
| 2010 | 4,629 | 10,019 | – | 11,519 | 21,316 | 1,038,351 | 2.1 |
| 2011 | 4,606 | 10,358 | – | 12,046 | 21,896 | 1,072,295 | 2.0 |
| 2012 | 4,492 | 10,519 | – | 11,874 | 24,698 | 1,121,081 | 2.2 |
| 2013 | 4,503 | 10,686 | – | 12,610 | 26,421 | 1,173,971 | 2.3 |
| 2014 | – | – | – | – | 27,385 | 1,220,052 | 2.2 |
| 2015 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Sweden6 | |||||||
| 2010 | 7,369 | 16,255 | – | 7,045 | 30,669 | 1,583,426 | 1.9 |
| 2011 | 7,053 | 16,590 | – | 7,178 | 30,821 | 1,640,068 | 1.9 |
| 2012 | 7,139 | 17,136 | – | 7,466 | 31,741 | 1,660,763 | 1.9 |
| 2013 | 7,091 | 17,710 | – | 7,807 | 32,608 | 1,703,908 | 1.9 |
| 2014 | 6,905 | 18,225 | – | 8,234 | 33,364 | 1,758,938 | 1.9 |
| 2015 | – | – | – | – | – | 1,826,042 | – |
| Greenland | |||||||
| 2010 | 47 | 61 | – | 265 | 376 | 5,980 | 6.3 |
| 2011 | 42 | 55 | – | 254 | 355 | 6,305 | 5.6 |
| 2012 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2013 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2014 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2015 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
1Denmark: Consumer expenditure on wine and spirits are summarised.
2Sweden: Long drinks are included in the spirits category.
3Sweden: Beer with an alcohol content of more than 3.5% by volume (i.e., strong beer).
4Finland: Some numbers differ from last year’s compilation due to revisions.
5Norway: Some numbers differ from last year’s compilation due to corrections. Beverage-specific expenditure not available for 2014–2015. The sum of beverage-specific expenditure does not equal totals due to change of data source for total alcohol expenditure (total consumer expenditure is now household consumption expenditure on alcoholic beverages from national accounts).
6Sweden: Revised data from reporting agency, Statistics Sweden. Statistics Sweden switched from their ENS 95 accounting framework to ENS 2010 in 2014. Data updated accordingly. Some data for 2015 not publicly available.
When it comes to state revenues from alcohol, consumer expenditure has decreased in Norway and in Sweden, the numbers fluctuate in Denmark, and in Finland consumer expenditure has increased, likely as a consequence of the alcohol tax increases in 2012 and 2014 (far-right column, Table 8). However, as overall consumption has declined in Finland, the total state revenue is still decreasing (“total state revenue” column, third from right, Table 8). Taxes are counted differently in the different countries, but national trends should be applicable. Prices are rather similar in all Nordic countries, the tax increases showing in the Finnish material (Table 9).
Table 8.
State revenue from alcohol in the currency of each country (millions).1
| State revenue from alcohol from: | State revenue as a % of: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| taxes on alcohol2 | the state alcohol monopoly | Total | total state revenue | direct and indirect taxes | consumer expenditure on alcohol | |
| Denmark | ||||||
| 2010 | – | – | 2,962 | – | – | 35.3 |
| 2011 | – | – | 3,074 | – | – | 35.8 |
| 2012 | – | – | 3,630 | – | – | 41.7 |
| 2013 | – | – | 3,778 | – | – | 41.9 |
| 2014 | – | – | 3,779 | – | – | 38.6 |
| 2015 | – | – | 3,880 | – | – | 40.6 |
| Finland | ||||||
| 2010 | 1,284 | – | 2,087 | 5.4 | 4.0 | 47.4 |
| 2011 | 1,281 | – | 2,132 | 4.9 | 3.5 | 47.1 |
| 2012 | 1,381 | – | 2,246 | 5.0 | 3.7 | 48.8 |
| 2013 | 1,336 | – | 2,221 | 4.8 | 3.4 | 48.7 |
| 2014 | 1,394 | – | 2,283 | 4.9 | 3.5 | 49.9 |
| 2015 | 1,356 | – | 2,235 | 4.6 | 3.4 | 50.1 |
| Norway3 | ||||||
| 2010 | 16,619 | 44 | 16,663 | 1.6 | 2.6 | 78.2 |
| 2011 | 17,406 | 36 | 17,442 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 79.7 |
| 2012 | 17,518 | 27 | 17,545 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 71.0 |
| 2013 | 17,801 | 36 | 17,837 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 67.5 |
| 2014 | 18,134 | n/a | 18,134 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 66.2 |
| 2015 | 18,283 | n/a | 18,283 | 1.5 | 2.6 | – |
| Sweden4 | ||||||
| 2010 | 12,132 | 302 | 12,434 | 1.6 | – | 40.5 |
| 2011 | 12,212 | 159 | 12,371 | 1.4 | – | 40.1 |
| 2012 | 12,333 | 90 | 12,423 | 1.6 | – | 39.1 |
| 2013 | 12,217 | 287 | 12,504 | 1.6 | – | 38.3 |
| 2014 | 12,798 | 251 | 13,049 | 1.7 | – | 39.1 |
| 2015 | 13,757 | 198 | 13,955 | 1.6 | – | – |
| Iceland5 | ||||||
| 2010 | 14,742 | 1,000 | 15,742 | 3.3 | – | – |
| 2011 | 14,811 | 1,000 | 15,811 | 3.2 | – | – |
| 2012 | 15,495 | 1,050 | 16,545 | 3.0 | – | – |
| 2013 | 15,785 | 1,200 | 16,985 | 2.9 | – | – |
| 2014 | 16,534 | 1,400 | 17,934 | 2.6 | – | – |
| 2015 | 15,788 | 1,200 | 16,988 | 2.5 | – | – |
| Greenland | ||||||
| 2010 | 235 | – | 235 | – | 5.7 | 62.7 |
| 2011 | 225 | – | 225 | – | 5.2 | 63.5 |
| 2012 | 220 | – | 220 | – | 5.0 | – |
| 2013 | 197 | – | 197 | – | 4.5 | – |
| 2014 | 188 | – | 188 | – | – | – |
| 2015 | 185 | – | 185 | – | – | – |
1Includes alcohol taxes and value added tax.
2Finland: Includes tax on alcoholic beverages. Sweden: Includes excise tax on alcoholic beverages.
3Norway: Some numbers differ from last year’s compilation due to corrections. Taxes on alcohol include excise duty on alcoholic beverage containers (Emballasjeavgift). The state alcohol monopoly tax (Vinmonopolavgiften) was removed in 2014. Source: National accounts.
4Sweden: Revised data from reporting agency, Statistics Sweden. Statistics Sweden switched from their ENS 95 accounting framework to ENS 2010 in 2014. Data updated accordingly. State revenue as a % of consumer expenditure not publicly available for 2015.
5Iceland: Refers only to sales by the retail monopoly.
Table 9.
Real price indices for alcoholic beverages (2003 = 100).
| Real price indices for | Consumer price index | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spirit drinks | Wine | Long drinks | Beer1 | Total | ||
| Denmark | ||||||
| 2010 | 107 | 106 | – | 117 | 107 | 114 |
| 2011 | 107 | 105 | – | 119 | 107 | 118 |
| 2012 | 115 | 114 | – | 130 | 115 | 120 |
| 2013 | 117 | 118 | – | 131 | 117 | 121 |
| 2014 | 117 | 119 | – | 124 | 116 | 122 |
| 2015 | 118 | 121 | – | 120 | 116 | 122 |
| Finland | ||||||
| 2010 | 92 | 102 | 101 | 98 | 97 | 111 |
| 2011 | 90 | 100 | 100 | 95 | 95 | 115 |
| 2012 | 92 | 101 | 104 | 101 | 99 | 118 |
| 2013 | 93 | 102 | 105 | 102 | 100 | 120 |
| 2014 | 95 | 105 | 106 | 103 | 102 | 121 |
| 2015 | 97 | 105 | 107 | 104 | 102 | 121 |
| Norway | ||||||
| 2010 | 102 | 105 | – | 97 | – | 114 |
| 2011 | 105 | 107 | – | 102 | – | 116 |
| 2012 | 107 | 109 | – | 105 | – | 116 |
| 2013 | 108 | 110 | – | 111 | – | 119 |
| 2014 | 108 | 111 | – | 111 | – | 121 |
| 2015 | 107 | 111 | – | 110 | – | 124 |
| Sweden | ||||||
| 2010 | 94 | 98 | – | 96 | 97 | 109 |
| 2011 | 92 | 96 | – | 94 | 95 | 112 |
| 2012 | 91 | 95 | – | 94 | 94 | 113 |
| 2013 | 92 | 96 | – | 94 | 95 | 113 |
| 2014 | 93 | 98 | – | 96 | 97 | 113 |
| 2015 | 94 | 102 | – | 100 | 99 | 113 |
| Greenland | ||||||
| 2010 | 115 | 133 | – | 107 | 113 | 118 |
| 2011 | 116 | 134 | – | 110 | 115 | 122 |
| 2012 | 119 | 138 | – | 112 | 117 | 126 |
| 2013 | 120 | 139 | – | 113 | 119 | 128 |
| 2014 | 120 | 141 | – | 117 | 122 | 130 |
| 2015 | 121 | 144 | – | 117 | 122 | 132 |
| Iceland | ||||||
| 2010 | 104 | 107 | – | 103 | 101 | 160 |
| 2011 | 101 | 103 | – | 103 | 99 | 166 |
| 2012 | 100 | 102 | – | 103 | 98 | 175 |
| 2013 | 98 | 100 | – | 100 | 96 | 182 |
| 2014 | 103 | 99 | – | 98 | 104 | 184 |
| 2015 | 99 | 96 | – | 96 | 101 | 187 |
1Sweden: Beer with an alcohol content of more than 3.5% by volume (i.e., strong beer).
Harm and mortality
The statistics demonstrate a positive direction in all Nordic countries in terms of driving under the influence (Table 10). There has been a decrease throughout, and the positive trend is even more marked when seen in relation to the growing number of registered motor vehicles (far right Table 10). A somewhat remarkable trend concerns the decreased number of cases of alcohol-related illnesses per 100,000 capita (aged 15 years and over). All countries except Iceland have witnessed a downward trend in mortality caused by alcohol (Table 11), correlating with overall consumption. Denmark and Finland have continued to deviate with higher levels than the rest (over 30 / 100,000). Iceland’s low but fluctuating rates remain something of a question mark, but can be explained by small population size.
Table 10.
Driving under the influence of alcohol.
| Driving under the influence of alcohol (number of cases)1 | Driving under the influence of alcohol involving accidents with injuries to people (number of cases) | Registered motor vehicles per 1 January (thousands)2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Per 1000 motor vehicles3 | Per 1000 capita aged 15 years and over | Cases involving alcohol | Percentage of road accidents | ||
| Denmark | ||||||
| 2010 | 11,799 | 4.0 | 2.6 | 530 | – | 2,948 |
| 2011 | 12,711 | 4.3 | 2.8 | 561 | – | 2,964 |
| 2012 | 11,614 | 3.9 | 2.5 | 460 | – | 2,978 |
| 2013 | 10,355 | 3.4 | 2.2 | 429 | – | 3,004 |
| 2014 | 9,179 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 355 | – | 3,029 |
| 2015 | 7,659 | 2.5 | 1.6 | 328 | – | 3,073 |
| Finland4 | ||||||
| 2010 | 17,312 | 4.8 | 3.9 | 626 | 10.3 | 3,595 |
| 2011 | 17,981 | 4.8 | 4.0 | 603 | 9.4 | 3,731 |
| 2012 | 15,877 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 486 | 8.5 | 3,838 |
| 2013 | 14,081 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 505 | 9.5 | 3,933 |
| 2014 | 13,004 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 459 | 8.6 | 4,023 |
| 2015 | 12,176 | 3.0 | 2.7 | 454 | 8.8 | 4,109 |
| Norway | ||||||
| 2010 | 4,318 | – | 1.1 | – | – | 2,701 |
| 2011 | 3,824 | – | 1.0 | – | – | 2,779 |
| 2012 | 3,871 | – | 1.0 | – | – | 2,857 |
| 2013 | 4,291 | – | 1.0 | – | – | 2,921 |
| 2014 | 3,901 | – | 0.9 | – | – | 2,980 |
| Sweden | ||||||
| 2010 | 17,064 | 3.1 | 2.2 | – | – | 5,448 |
| 2011 | 16,979 | 3.1 | 2.1 | – | – | 5,496 |
| 2012 | 15,224 | 2.7 | 1.9 | – | – | 5,605 |
| 2013 | 13,999 | 2.5 | 1.8 | – | – | 5,680 |
| 2014 | 13,769 | 2.4 | 1.7 | – | – | 5,799 |
| 2015 | 13,045 | 2.2 | 1.6 | – | – | 5,912 |
| Iceland5 | ||||||
| 2010 | 1,293 | – | – | 44 | 5.0 | 296 |
| 2011 | 1,229 | – | – | 39 | 4.6 | 298 |
| 2012 | 1,274 | – | – | 42 | 5.7 | 242 |
| 2013 | 1,295 | – | – | 33 | 4.0 | 246 |
| 2014 | 1,252 | – | – | 33 | 4.1 | 251 |
| 2015 | 1,051 | – | – | 22 | 2.4 | 261 |
| Faroe Islands | ||||||
| 2010 | 99 | 6.6 | 5.1 | 13 | 1.7 | 30 |
| 2011 | 115 | 6.5 | 5.1 | 10 | 1.4 | 30 |
| 2012 | 126 | 6.4 | 5.2 | 2 | 0.3 | 30 |
| 2013 | 117 | 6.3 | 5.1 | – | – | 31 |
| 2014 | – | – | – | – | – | 32 |
1Denmark: Cases examined by the courts. Denmark, Finland and Iceland: Cases registered by the police. Norway: Number of sanctions. Sweden: Number of reported cases (mainly cases reported by the police).
2Sweden: Includes registered motor cars, trucks, busses, motorcycles, mopeds (class I) and cross-country scooters in traffic at the end of each year.
3Sweden: Number of cases of drunk driving divided by the number of registered motor cars, trucks, busses, motorcycles, mopeds (class I) and scooters in traffic at the end of each year.
4Finland: Some numbers differ from last year’s compilation due to revisions.
5Iceland: Some numbers differ from last year’s compilation due to revisions.
Table 11.
Deaths from alcohol-related illnesses.
| Alcohol psychosis and alcohol dependence | Alcoholic liver diseases | Alcohol poisoning | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F10 | K70 | X45 | F10, K70, X45 | |||||
| ICD-10 code | Number of deaths | Deaths per 100,000 capita aged 15 years and over | Number of deaths | Deaths per 100,000 capita aged 15 years and over | Number of deaths | Deaths per 100,000 capita aged 15 years and over | Number of deaths | Deaths per 100,000 capita aged 15 years and over |
| Finland | ||||||||
| 2010 | 180 | 4.0 | 1,070 | 23.7 | 406 | 9.0 | 1,656 | 36.7 |
| 2011 | 168 | 3.7 | 1,042 | 23.1 | 392 | 8.7 | 1,602 | 35.5 |
| 2012 | 203 | 4.5 | 1,099 | 24.2 | 375 | 8.3 | 1,677 | 37.0 |
| 2013 | 206 | 4.5 | 1,114 | 24.4 | 319 | 7.0 | 1,639 | 36.0 |
| 2014 | 232 | 5.1 | 1,080 | 23.6 | 275 | 6.0 | 1,587 | 34.7 |
| 2015 | 211 | 4.6 | 954 | 20.8 | 263 | 5.7 | 1,428 | 42.8 |
| Norway1 | ||||||||
| 2010 | 210 | 5.3 | 143 | 3.6 | 42 | 1.1 | 395 | 10.0 |
| 2011 | 193 | 4.8 | 142 | 3.6 | 43 | 1.1 | 378 | 9.5 |
| 2012 | 155 | 3.8 | 132 | 3.2 | 35 | 0.9 | 322 | 7.9 |
| 2013 | 152 | 3.7 | 157 | 3.8 | 55 | 1.3 | 364 | 8.8 |
| 2014 | 153 | 3.7 | 111 | 2.7 | 33 | 0.8 | 297 | 7.1 |
| 2015 | 142 | 3.4 | 138 | 3.3 | 33 | 0.8 | 313 | 7.4 |
| Sweden2 | ||||||||
| 2010 | 263 | 3.4 | 376 | 4.8 | 118 | 1.5 | 757 | 9.6 |
| 2011 | 240 | 3.0 | 347 | 4.4 | 119 | 1.5 | 706 | 8.9 |
| 2012 | 185 | 2.3 | 396 | 5.0 | 109 | 1.4 | 690 | 8.7 |
| 2013 | 189 | 2.4 | 349 | 4.4 | 110 | 1.4 | 648 | 8.1 |
| 2014 | 228 | 2.8 | 429 | 5.3 | 85 | 1.1 | 742 | 9.2 |
| 2015 | 216 | 2.7 | 401 | 4.9 | 105 | 1.3 | 722 | 8.9 |
| Denmark | ||||||||
| 2010 | 693 | 15.3 | 895 | 19.7 | 19 | 0.4 | 1,607 | 35.4 |
| 2011 | 694 | 15.2 | 801 | 17.5 | 20 | 0.4 | 1,515 | 33.2 |
| 2012 | 713 | 15.5 | 783 | 17.0 | 16 | 0.3 | 1,512 | 32.9 |
| 2013 | 727 | 15.7 | 706 | 15.3 | 16 | 0.3 | 1,449 | 31.3 |
| 2014 | 631 | 13.5 | 704 | 15.1 | 16 | 0.3 | 1,351 | 28.8 |
| 2015 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Iceland | ||||||||
| 2010 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2011 | 5 | 2.0 | 2 | 0.8 | 1 | 0.4 | 8 | 3.2 |
| 2012 | 6 | 2.4 | 4 | 1.6 | 1 | 0.4 | 11 | 4.3 |
| 2013 | 8 | 3.1 | 3 | 1.2 | 2 | 0.8 | 13 | 5.1 |
| 2014 | 1 | 0.4 | 4 | 1.5 | 6 | 2.3 | 11 | 4.2 |
| 2015 | 8 | 3.0 | 8 | 3.0 | 3 | 1.1 | 19 | 7.2 |
ICD-10 = International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems.
1Norway: Some numbers differ from last year’s compilation due to corrections.
2Sweden: Revised data from reporting agency, The National Board of Health and Welfare. Data updated accordingly.
The data in Table 12 have remained stable and unchanged.
Table 12.
Mean alcohol content and legal age for purchase of alcohol.
| Mean alcohol content, % by volume | Legal age for purchase | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sale | Serving | |||||||
| Spirits | Wines1 | Long drinks2 | Beer | Beer and wine3 | Spirits | Beer and wine | Spirits | |
| Denmark | ||||||||
| 2009 | – | – | – | – | 16 | 16 | 18 | 18 |
| 2010 | – | – | – | – | 16 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 2011 | – | – | – | – | 16 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 2012 | – | – | – | – | 16 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 2013 | – | – | – | – | 16 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 2014 | – | – | – | – | 16 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 2015 | – | – | – | – | 16 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| Finland | ||||||||
| 2009 | 35.0 | 9.2 | 5.0 | 4.6 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 18 |
| 2010 | 34.9 | 9.3 | 5.0 | 4.6 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 18 |
| 2011 | 34.9 | 9.3 | 5.0 | 4.6 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 18 |
| 2012 | 34.9 | 9.7 | 5.0 | 4.6 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 18 |
| 2013 | 34.8 | 9.7 | 5.0 | 4.6 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 18 |
| 2014 | 34.8 | 9.8 | 5.0 | 4.6 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 18 |
| 2015 | 34.7 | 9.9 | 5.0 | 4.6 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 18 |
| Norway | ||||||||
| 2010 | 39.2 | 12.4 | 4.8 | 4.5 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 20 |
| 2011 | 39.1 | 12.4 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 20 |
| 2012 | 38.9 | 12.4 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 20 |
| 2013 | 39.1 | 12.4 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 20 |
| 2014 | 37.0 | 12.7 | 6.1 | 4.5 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 20 |
| 2015 | 39.2 | 12.4 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 20 |
| Sweden | ||||||||
| 2010 | 32.8 | 12.5 | – | 5.5 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 18 |
| 2011 | 33.4 | 12.4 | – | 5.5 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 18 |
| 2012 | 35.6 | 12.3 | – | 5.5 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 18 |
| 2013 | 35.6 | 12.3 | – | 5.5 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 18 |
| 2014 | 35.6 | 12.3 | – | 5.5 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 18 |
| 2015 | 34.9 | 12.3 | – | 5.5 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 18 |
| Iceland | ||||||||
| 2010 | – | – | – | – | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| 2011 | – | – | – | – | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| 2012 | – | – | – | – | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| 2013 | – | – | – | – | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| 2014 | – | – | – | – | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| 2015 | 34.0 | 12.2 | – | 4.9 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Greenland | ||||||||
| 2010 | 40.0 | 11.9 | – | 4.6 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 2011 | 40.0 | 11.9 | – | 4.6 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 2012 | 40.0 | 11.9 | – | 4.6 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 2013 | 40.0 | 11.9 | – | 4.6 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 2014 | 40.0 | 11.9 | – | 4.6 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 2015 | 40.0 | 11.9 | – | 4.6 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| Faroe Islands | ||||||||
| 2010 | 36.6 | 11.5 | – | 5.1 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 2011 | 36.9 | 11.4 | – | 5.1 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 2012 | 36.8 | 10.9 | – | 5.2 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 2013 | 36.5 | 10.8 | – | 5.3 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 2014 | 35.3 | 11.7 | – | 5.4 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
1Finland: Includes cider. Sweden: Alcoholic beverages produced through fermentation of grapes or grape juice. Alcoholic beverages produced through fermentation of fruits, berries or other plant parts (e.g., cider) are also shown in this category. Faroe Islands: Includes cider.
2Sweden: Long drinks are included in the spirits category. Faroe Islands: Long drinks are included in the spirits category.
3Sweden: Beer with an alcohol content of more than 2.25% but no more than 3.5% by volume (medium-strength beer) may be purchased by individuals aged 18 years or over. Denmark: As of 2011, individuals aged 16–17 years may purchase beer or wine containing no more than 16.4% alcohol by volume.
Work group behind the statistics
Contact persons in the different countries are: Richard Henriksson (Public Health Agency of Sweden), Sirpa Virtanen (National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland), Christian Lindeskov (Statistics Denmark), Ståle Østhus (Norwegian Institute for Public Health, NIPH), Rafn M. Jónsson (Directorate of Health, Iceland), Josef Kâjangmat (Statistics Greenland) and Rógvi A. Fossádal (Rúsdrekkasøla Landsins, Faroe Islands). We have turned to senior researcher Thomas Karlsson for questions regarding interpretations.
The Sotkanet.fi service2 by the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) offers key population welfare and health data from 1990 onwards on all Finnish municipalities, based on the current administrative division into municipalities. Users can search for indicator data in different ways in three languages: English, Finnish and Swedish. The website Sotkanet.org also provides some measurements of Nordic alcohol statistics, and more will hopefully be provided in the future.
Notes
YLE.fi (2016, 20 May) Government moves to loosen alcohol laws. Retrieved from http://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/government_moves_to_loosen_alcohol_laws/8894695
Footnotes
Declaration of conflicting interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding: The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Contributor Information
Matilda Hellman, Helsingin Yliopisto, Helsinki, Finland.
Tom Kettunen, Nordic Welfare Centre, Helsinki, Finland.