Maps

Voting turnout in 2023 (or latest national election). The map illustrates voter turnout as a percentage point relative to national averages, highlighting differences in participation levels between countries. This method removes inter-country differences in participation levels, providing a clearer view of the urban-rural divide. Lower turnout is observed in eastern Finland, northern Sweden, and the more rural parts of Denmark. In Norway, the lowest turnout occurs in the north and in municipalities outside Oslo. Nationally, the highest voter turnouts are in the Faroe Islands (88%), Sweden (84.2%), and Denmark (84.16%). Lower participation rates are found in Iceland (80.1%), Norway (77.2%), Finland (68.5%), and Greenland (65.9%).

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.

To secure better access to general practitioners for the rural population, the region of Västerbotten has developed the concept of virtual healthrooms (VHRs). These VHRs are unstaffed, which means that they have no regular health personnel in situ. They are equipped with distance-spanningtechnology, which means that patients can go there to take consultations from a practitioner online, conducting health checks such as measuringblood pressure or heart rate. The coloured patches on the map show those populated areas in Västerbotten where inhabitants can expect a reduction of travel distance to primary health care through the implementation of VHRs. The coloured patches are populated areas in Västerbotten (by 1000*1000m grid) with improved accessibility of health care resulting from the implementation of virtual health rooms. The colour indicates the total distance reduced.Distance is measured as being via the road network. The average distance to the closest primary health care facility (health centre or virtual health room) is 6 km for the overall population in Västerbotten. The implementation of VHRs means that around 3.5% of the 270,000 inhabitants of Västerbotten experience increased accessibility toa primary health care service. The travel distance for this portion of the population has been cut by almost 50%, from 42 km per person to 23 km per person. Patients may also use virtual health rooms to conduct teleconsultations with health professionals at specialised hospitals, which creates even greater potential from an accessibility standpoint.

The map illustrates the accessibility of highly specialised care in Västerbotten in Sweden. The colours represent car ride times in minutes from the place of residency to the nearest health care facility within a certain service type, with a travel range of 10 minutes to two hours. The health care facilities are also located on the map. The only hospital offering highly specialised in-patient care is located in Umeå, and half of the regional population (51.0%) can reach the hospital within a 40-minute car ride. For the inhabitants of Storuman, however it takes more than a two-hours car ride to access specialised care in the hospital. The accessibility of health care services for rural dwellers are improved by means of distance-spanning digital solutions. Instead of making the effort of physically visiting a health care facility, they can access video consultations with general practitioners via virtual health care rooms, and then decide whether a follow-up physical visit to the specialised hospital is needed.

The map illustrates the accessibility of in-patient care in Västerbotten in Sweden. The colours represent car ride times in minutes from the place of residency to the nearest health care facility within a certain service type, with a travel range of 10 minutes to two hours. The health care facilities are also located on the map. The accessibility of in-patient care shares similar characteristics to that of access to dropin out-patient care. The ten facilities mentioned above provide in-patient care, too. The only difference is that two facilities outside the region were included in the analysis. But they did not alter the overall picture, suggesting that inhabitants living along the border line tend not to cross the border to seek in-patient care. These hospitals are accessible to 56.3% of the population within a 10-minute car ride, and 97.1% of the population within a one-hour car drive.

The map illustrates the accessibility of out-patient drop-in care in Västerbotten in Sweden. The colours represent car ride times in minutes from the place of residency to the nearest health care facility within a certain service type, with a travel range of 10 minutes to two hours. The health care facilities are also located on the map. Health care facilities offering out-patient drop-in care are characterised by even geographical distribution across Västerbotten. Each inland municipality has one such heath care facility, apart from Norsjö. All ten facilities offer drop-in care during both office hours and evenings and weekends (24/7). According to the results of our accessibility analysis, 56.% of the regional population can access drop-in out-patient care within a ten minute car ride. Within a half-hour car ride, the drop-in care service is available to 83.3% of inhabitants.

The map illustrates the accessibility of primary care in Västerbotten in Sweden. The colours represent car ride times in minutes from the place of residency to the nearest health care facility within a certain service type, with a travel range of 10 minutes to two hours. The health care facilities are also located on the map. The 37 health care facilities in the region contribute to widespread coverage of primary outpatient care for the population in Västerbotten. Over 80% of the inhabitants can access such health care services within a 10-minute car ride, and a half-hour car ride can cover 95.8% of the regional population. In general, coastal municipalities have easier access to health care services than inland municipalities. As one of the inland municipalities, Storuman accommodates one health care facility which provides most of the health care services expected in relation to highlyspecialised care.

This map gives an overview of the S3 focus areas in the Swedish regions in 2019. The major S3 domains in Sweden shown in the map provide a good overview of the key specialisation areas in Sweden. It is possible, for example, to check which Swedish regions have “green”, “sustainable”, “environment” at their smart specialisation domains (marked in green in their respective infoboxes for the domains in the figure). The information illustrated in the map can assist Swedish regions when they are considering opportunities for S3 synergy and co-operation with each other. In Sweden, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Tillväxtverket) is a central actor in assisting regions in their work with smart specialisation. Tillväxtverket promotes opportunities for cooperation between the Swedish regional S3 processes and provides relevant information and learning seminars related to S3. Read the digital publication here.