Children and young people
The Nordic Region must be the best place in the world for children and young people. This is the Nordic Council of Ministers’ vision for its efforts relating to children and young people [1], which is also part of the Nordic Council of Ministers’ overall vision for the Nordic Region.
The Children and Young People indicator selection covers information on status and development in terms of demography, physical health, mental health, family and living conditions, education and skills, working life, as well as leisure and culture.
Data is mainly collected from the Nordic Statistical Institutes, Eurostat and the collaborative WHO cross-national Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study [2].
Mean values representing HBSC represents non-weighted mean values for the about 45 mainly European participating countries [3].
The figures below visualize selected parts of the data. The source matrix below each figure links directly to the data.
[1] https://www.norden.org/en/publication/children-and-young-people-nordic-region-0
Demography
Nordic and European populations are ageing and fewer children are born.
Children and young people's demography
Over time the proportion of children and young people, 0 to 25 years, make up a smaller and smaller part of the total population.
Source: Nordic statistics database, POPU01
The figure displays individuals aged 0 to 25 years as a percentage of the total population, by reporting country and time.
Fertility
The fertility has decreased since the 1950s and is today below 2 100 per 1 000 women, corresponding to a fertility rate of 2.1, which is the fertility rate needed for a population to replace itself.
Source: Nordic statistics database, CHIL02
The figure displays the number of live births per 1 000 women, by reporting country and gender.
Gender distribution of young adults
In all Nordic countries men are in majority among young adults 19-25 years.
Source: Nordic statistics database, POPU01
The figure displays the distribution of individuals aged 19 to 25 years, by reporting country and gender.
Physical health
The physical health indicators covers overweight and obesity, smoking, alcohol consumption as well as dental and medical health. Data exists for Denmark, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden but not for Finland, Åland and the Faroe Islands.
Bodyweight
The percentage of children with overweight and obesity varies between the Nordic countries.
Source: Nordic statistics database, LILI05
The figures display the percentage of 11-year-olds, 13-year-olds and 15-year-olds with overweight or obesity using the international BMI standards for children according to WHO, by reporting country and sex.
Smoking
The percentage of young people who have tried smoking, one to two days or more in their lifetime, varies between the Nordic countries. For 15-year-olds, Iceland has the lowest levels whereas Denmark has the highest levels for both sexes.
Source: Nordic statistics database, LILI06
More data on smoking is found in LILI07.
The figures display the percentage of 11-year-olds, 13-year-olds and 15-year-olds that have tried smoking for at least 1-2 days in their lifetime, by reporting country and gender.
Alcohol
The percentage of young people who have ever drunk alcohol in their lifetime varies between the Nordic countries. For 15-year-olds, Iceland has the lowest levels whereas Denmark has the highest levels for both sexes.
Source: Nordic statistics database, LILI08
More data on alcohol is found in LILI09.
The figures display the percentage of 11-year-olds, 13-year-olds and 15-year-olds who have drunk alcohol in their lifetime, by reporting country and gender.
Dental needs
The percentage of 16- to 24-year-olds who report that they have no unmet needs for dental examination varies across the Nordics – both over time and between countries. Except for Sweden, the Nordic countries are performing worse than the EU average overall.
Source: Nordic statistics database, UNMT01
The figure displays the percentage of individuals aged 16-24 years that have no self-reported unmet needs for dental examination, by reporting country and gender.
Medical needs
The percentage of 16- to 24-year-olds who report that they have no unmet needs for medical examination shows different developmental patterns over time between the countries.
Source: Nordic statistics database, UNMT02
The figure displays the percentage of individuals aged 16-24 years that have no self-reported unmet needs for medical examination, by reporting country and time.
Mental health
The mental health indicators cover self-perceived life satisfaction, physical violence, bullying and suicide. Data exists for Denmark, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden but not for Finland, Åland and the Faroe Islands.
Life satisfaction
Life satisfaction was measured on a scale from 0 to 10, where a score of 6 or more was classified as high. The percentage of boys being satisfied with life tend to be higher than for girls in the Nordic countries.
Source: Nordic statistics database, LILI01
The figures display the percentage of 11-year-olds, 13-year-olds and 15-year-olds who report high life satisfaction, by reporting country and gender.
Physical fighting
The percentage of children who have been involved in a physical fight at least once during the past 12 months are much higher for boys than for girls except in Iceland. Percentages are highest in Iceland and at similar levels for boys and girls.
Source: Nordic statistics database, LILI03
The figures display the percentage of 11-year-olds, 13-year-olds and 15-year-olds who have been involved in a physical fight in the past year, by reporting country and gender.
Exposure to bullying
The percentage of children being bullied at school at least once during the previous couple of months is higher in Greenland than in the other Nordic countries.
Source: Nordic statistics database, LILI02
The figures display the percentage of 11-year-olds, 13-year-olds and 15-year-olds who have been bullied at least once or twice at school during the previous couple of months, by reporting country and gender.
Suicide
The number of deaths by suicide is much higher for Greenland than for other Nordic countries. Also, the number is higher for young men than young women in all Nordic countries.
Source: Nordic statistics database, HEAL05
The figure displays the number of deaths by suicide per 100,000 in the age group 20-24 years, by reporting country and gender.
Family and living conditions
The family and living conditions indicators cover child poverty, children in day care and living at parents’ home.
Child poverty
The percentage of children aged 0-17 years in households below the EU at-risk-of-poverty threshold (60% of the national median equivalised disposable income) has had a relatively stable development over the last twenty years, although Sweden and Norway are displaying increases.
Source: Nordic statistics database, RIOP02
The figure displays the percentage of children aged 0-17 years in households below the EU at-risk-of-poverty threshold, by reporting country and time.
Children in daycare
For all Nordic countries the percentage of children between 3 and 5 years in daycare has increased over the last thirty years with levels above 85%. Denmark's shift downwards in 2017 is due to a break in time series.
Source: Nordic statistics database, CHIL03
The figure displays the percentage of children aged 3-5 years in daycare, by reporting country and time.
Leaving home
Young adults aged 20-24 years are more likely to have left their parents’ homes to live by themselves in the Nordic countries, compared with EU. The gender difference is also evident - young men have a higher tendency to live in the same household as their parents than young women.
Source: Nordic statistics database, HOME01
The figure displays the percentage of young individuals aged 20-24 who live with their parents, by reporting country and gender.
Education and skills
The education and skills indicators cover PISA results (reading, mathematics, science), tertiary education and early leavers from education and training.
Educational skills (PISA)
PISA is the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment which measures the ability of 15-year-olds to use their reading, mathematics and science knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges.
Source: Nordic statistics database, PISA01
The figure displays PISA scores in reading, mathematics and science, by reporting country.
PISA scores over time
In the following three figures, PISA results can be seen for reading, mathematics and science over time. In 2022, declines can be seen for almost all categories and countries.
Source: Nordic statistics database, PISA01
The figures display PISA scores in reading, mathematics and science, by reporting country and time.
Tertiary education
The percentage of young adults aged 25 – 29 having attained tertiary education level varies both between the Nordic countries and between sexes. In all Nordic countries and EU more young women have attained a tertiary education than men.
Source: Nordic statistics database, EDUC11
The figure displays the percentage of individuals aged 25- to 29-year-olds who have attained tertiary education level (ISCED levels 5-8), by reporting country and gender.
Early leavers from education and training
The percentage of young adults aged 18-24 years being early leavers from education and training varies between the Nordic countries. Early leavers have completed lower secondary education at most, and are not involved in further education or training. This group is larger in Iceland and Finland than in the other Nordic countries.
Source: Nordic statistics database, EDUC06
The figure displays the percentage of early leavers from education among individuals aged 18-24 years, by reporting country and time.
Working life
The working life indicators cover youth employment, young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET) as well as gig economy and precarious work.
Youth unemployment
The unemployment rate among young people aged 15 – 24 years has fluctuated over the years. For most Nordic countries an increased unemployment rate was observed after the global financial crisis 2007/2008 and during the pandemic of 2020 for most countries.
Source: Nordic statistics database, WORK02
The figure displays unemployment rate among 15- to 24-year-olds, by reporting country and time.
Young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET)
The percentage of young people aged 15 - 29 neither in employment nor in education and training varies between the Nordic countries. However all countries lie below the EU level.
The EU has set an EU-level target of 9 percent as a goal for 2030.
Source: Nordic statistics database, NEET01
The figure displays the percentage of 15-29-year-olds that are neither in employment nor in education and training, by reporting country and time.
Gig economy and precarious work
The percentage of employees aged 15 to 24 years working on temporary contracts varies both between the Nordic countries and during the year. Seasonal patterns are more evident in some Nordic countries than in others.
Source: Nordic statistics database, LABO10
The figure displays the percentage of temporary employees as of the total number of employees in the age group 15-24 years, by reporting country and time.
Leisure and culture
The leisure time and culture indicators cover physical activities and spending time with friends online.
Physical activities
The percentage of young people reporting at least one hour of daily moderate-to-vigorous-physical-activity (MVPA) varies a great deal across the Nordic countries. Boys generally report being more active than girls.
Source: Nordic statistics database, LILI04
The figures display the percentage of 11-year-olds, 13-year-olds and 15-year-olds who report completing at least one hour of moderate-to-vigorous-physical-activity daily, by reporting country and gender.
Spending time with friends online
The percentage of young people having online contact with friends almost all the time varies between the Nordic countries. It increases with age.
Source: Nordic statistics database, LILI11
The figures display the percentage of 11-year-olds, 13-year-olds and 15-year-olds who report having online contact almost all the time with at least one of four friendship categories, by reporting country and gender.