Perinatal statistics in the Nordic countries
The quality description of the Perinatal statistics in the Nordic countries assesses the reliability and suitability of the statistics for different purposes.
Relevance of statistical data
The Nordic perinatal statistics contain statistical data concerning parturients, deliveries and newborns in all the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). The purpose of the statistics is to collect data for research, development and provision of maternity care, obstetrics services and the care of newborn infants.
The Association for Nordic Medical Birth Registers (NOMBIR) has designed and developed the content of the statistics. The association meets annually, and each country holds the presidency and performs secretarial duties three years at a time. The presidency is held by Norway in 2023–2025.
The statistical report aims to provide information to health care professionals, administrators, planning officials and researchers working in the area of reproductive health. The report text describes the concepts used in the statistics.
In Finland, the collection of data is based on the Act on the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (668/2008).
Description of methods
The statistics are mainly based on information from the Nordic Medical Birth Registers. These registers include data on all deliveries and newborn children in each country, covering all live births and stillbirths according to national definitions.
The Finnish Medical Birth Register was established in 1987. It contains data on all mothers who have given birth in Finland and on all newborn infants up to the age of seven days. Corresponding registers were established in Norway in 1967, in Iceland in 1972 and in Sweden and Denmark in 1973. The data content of the Nordic perinatal statistics has been expanded based on the data available in the registers. In this report, the statistics on total fertility rate is based on statistics from the national statistical authorities.
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) is responsible for collecting, reporting and publishing the statistics. Each country has a contact person for supplying THL with data who is also responsible for the correctness of the data for the country. Prior to release each contact person checks the report.
The statistics were published for the first time in 2005. The time series presented in the statistics are, however, updated retrospectively.
The statistical report also uses data from Eurostat, the World Health Organisation (WHO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) for comparative purposes at European level.
Correctness and accuracy of data
Each country is responsible for the correctness of its data. The Finnish statistics are based on the Medical Birth Register and correspond with data published in an earlier national report.
Timeliness and promptness of published data
The statistical report Nordic perinatal statistics is published by THL every other year (in even-numbered years). The report contains the most recent data available from the Nordic countries. The data collected for the Nordic perinatal statistics cover the two preceding years for which data are available. Data on earlier years can be updated where necessary.
The Finnish perinatal statistics are published in the autumn of every year at THL’s webpage.
Homepage for the Finnish Perinatal statistics
Availability and transparency/clarity of data
The statistical report is available on THL's website as well as on the websites of the Nordic sister organisations. The statistical indicators are published in THL’s Sotkanet indicator portal.
Comparability of statistical data
NOMBIR agrees on and confirms the terms and definitions used. The aim is to ensure the comparability of statistics from different countries. The terms and definitions are revised where necessary. Previous years’ data are also corrected, if necessary.
The Finnish statistics are based on the Finnish Medical Birth Register from 1987 onwards. The register has been revised in 1990, 1996, 2004 and 2017. Finnish data for 1975–1986 are based on information from Statistics Finland.
Statistics on births (Statistics Finland)
The 2019 reform at the Danish birth register caused changes in the time series which should be taken into account when making comparisons.
For other Nordic countries, the time series have been completed with information from NOMESCO publications 25/19871 and 39/19932 and from WHO and Eurostat.
1 Fødsler i Norden. Medicinsk fødselsregistrering 1979-1983. (Births in the Nordic Countries. Registration of the Outcome of Pregnancy 1979-1983). NOMESCO 25, Reykjavík 1987.
2 Births and Infant Mortality in the Nordic Countries. NOMESCO 39, Copenhagen 1993.
Clarity and consistency
All Nordic countries produce data on all the variables used in the statistics with the exception of data on smoking and BMI (Iceland). The statistics for Finland in 2020 are affected by a change in the health information system in maternity hospitals in the Helsinki metropolitan area, which has partly led to incomplete data.
The length of the presented time series varies by country. While most of the time series start in 1975, only the number of live births and the total fertility rate are available for all Nordic countries from that year onwards. In the other tables data are given for the years the data are available.
The statistics use established international terms and classifications (such as mode of delivery and perineal lacerations, of which third and fourth degree lacerations are considered as serious).
The terms and definitions related to pregnancy and newborns are based on the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems ICD-10 and a Finnish handbook on the recording of diseases.
Special issues concerning the 2022 statistics
The 2022 data for Iceland is partly missing from the statistical report because of the ongoing developmental work. Data for Iceland will be updated in the statistical report that will be published in 2026.
Data collected for the Nordic statistical report was revised in 2023. As new information, there are information on
- BMI for parturients (30 or over) and
- planned caesarean sections (all parturients and primiparas).
At Nordic level, information is not collected anymore on:
- number of multiple newborns (multiple births are still included)
- parturients with at least 4 earlier births
- children with birth weight of at least 4000g (birth weight of at least 4500g still included)
- children with 5-minute Apgar scores of 0-6 (Apgar scores of 0-3 still included)
- mean birth weight of girls, boys and singletons (birth weight of all children still included)
- mortality with 1000g cut-off point (cut-off point of 22 weeks still included)
Separate appendix tables will not be published as a part of the statistical report anymore. All data collected from the Nordic countries will be published through Sotkanet.
