Nordstat: statistics on largest Nordic cities

The Nordstat database, implemented in cooperation between the Nordic countries, contains basic statistics as time series on the largest cities and urban regions in the Nordic countries. The statistics for entire countries are also included.

The database contains data on population structure and demographic changes, jobs and labour force, housing and construction, education, air traffic and local elections. The statistics are updated once a year, and most time series start in the early 1990s.

Construction of the database started in 1990 in cooperation between the sixteen largest cities in the Nordic countries. The aim was to create an entity in which key comparable data on cities and their areas would be collected. Initially, data was collected primarily from the cities’ own data resources. Subsequently, it has been possible to retrieve data from the databases of the national statistical institutes. An attempt was made to select data corresponding to international definitions for each topic in the Nordstat database.

The participating cities have picked the datasets for their own city and its functional area from their own data resources. In addition, the capitals have coordinated and checked the data of the cities of their own country and acquired the data of their own country. In many cases, the statistics are edits of official national statistics, such as special extracts from regional statistical databases or extracts from official statistics publications.

Based on the database’s data, an English-language publication, Nordic Major City Statistics, is produced every other year.

Themes for Nordstat statistics:

  • area
  • housing and construction
  • education
  • air traffic
  • local elections
  • jobs and labour force
  • population
  • demographic changes

The data is available via the PX web database and interface. Available file formats include xlsx, csv, json, and json-stat.

Guides for using the PX-Web API have been prepared that you should consult before using the interface:

Data resources

Additional Info

Collection Open Data
Maintainer Helsingin kaupunginkanslia
Maintainer email
  1. kaupunkitieto@hel.fi
Maintainer website https://stat.hel.fi/helsingin-tilastotietokannat/nordstat.html
Links to additional information
  1. https://start.stockholm/om-stockholms-stad/utredningar-statistik-och-fakta/statistik/jamforelser-med-andra-nordiska-stader/
  2. https://stat.hel.fi/Resources/Images/PxWebAPI_Help_Helsinki_en.pdf
  3. https://www.stat.fi/tup/tilastotietokannat/kayttoohjeet.html
  4. https://www.stat.fi/tup/tilastotietokannat/ohjeet_sv.html
Geographical coverage
Last modified 07.11.2023
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Created on 15.02.2022