Maps

Members of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and non-NATO members as of March 2024. Countries that joined after 2015: Montenegro (2017), North Macedonia (2020), Finland (2023) and Sweden (2024). 

Members of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and non-NATO members as of April 2023. Countries that joined after 2015: Montenegro (2017), North Macedonia (2020), and Finland (2023). 

The map shows the geographical delimitation of cross-border regions and committees financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers as of December 2021.

The map shows the share of cross border commuters in the total employees with residence in a NUTS2 Nordic Region in 2015. The darker the blue, the higher the share. For the most NUTS2 regions in the Nordic, the percent is lower than 0,5%, indicating the commuting workers are the absolute minority in the total employed people. Åland (2,6%) and the South Sweden region (2,7%) stand out with more than 2% of employees in the region commuting cross-border for work. The destination country for Åland workers is Sweden, while for Swedish workers living in the south is Denmark. The commuting pattern is also apparent for the Swedish NUTS2 regions along the border line with Norway, with relatively higher percent of cross border workers commuting to Norway compared with other Nordic NUTS2 regions. At a finer scale (e.g., NUTS3) would show higher percentages in a number of regions, e.g., by taking only the NUTS 3 region – Skåne instead of the NUTS 2 region South Sweden (Skåne+Blekinge) or the border regions between NO and SE.

The map builds on statistics of cross-border commuters with residence in a NUTS2 Nordic region commute for work in 2015. For each NUTS2 region, the map shows the total number of commuters who commute to other Nordic countries for work. The number of commuters is categorised into three groups visualised in different shades: the darker, the higher the number of commuters. In addition, the most common country these commuters commute to from each region is identified by specific colours. For example, the darkest red indicates a region with at least 2,000 commuters working in another Nordic country, of which the largest group number of commuters works in Denmark. The most commuters were from the region of South Sweden (16 543) in 2015, and the majority of them commuted to Denmark for work. Norway is the most popular destination for work commuters in the Nordic Region, e.g., all Swedish regions except for the South Sweden region, all the regions in Denmark except for the Copenhagen region, and Iceland. Sweden is more attractive for work commuters living in Finland, Copenhagen region, and bordering regions in Norway.

The map shows the geographical delimitation of cross-border regions and committees financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

This map shows the change in the foreign-born population in the Nordic municipalities between 1995 and 2015. The smaller map shows the change in the foreign-born population in the Nordic Regions between 1995 and 2015. The blue tones indicate municipalities or regions with an increase in their foreign-born population between 1995 and 2015. The darker the blue the stronger the positive change. The red colour indicates municipalities or regions with a decrease in foreign-born population between 1995 and 2015. There has been an increase in the percent of foreign born in almost every region in the Nordic Region. Over the past 20 years, the share of the foreign-born population in the Nordic Region has increased from 6.5% to 14.3%. On the national level, the increase has been fastest in Norway followed by Sweden. At the regional level, the increase has been fastest in Rogaland, Oslo and Akershus in Norway and in Suðurnes in Iceland. The only municipalities that have seen declines in the percent of foreign born are municipalities in Iceland and central and northern Finland outside the larger urban areas and across Greenland.

Number and share of foreign-born inhabitants in Nordic regions during the last 20 years

Increase and decrease of population in commuting catchment areas

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