Nordic homicide report: Homicide in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, 2007–2016

This report compares the trends and patterns of lethal violence in from 2007 to 2016, in five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The report is a product of the “Nordic Homicide from Past to Present” research project, funded by the Scandinavian Research Council for criminology. The main findings include:
- Based on homicide mortality rates, the Nordic countries form currently three
groups: compared to the rates in Denmark and Sweden, the homicide
mortality rate is about 30 per cent higher in Finland and 30 per cent lower in
Norway and Iceland. However, by global standards, all the countries have
extremely low rates of homicide mortality.
- In Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, the hotspots of lethal violence
are the metropolitan areas of the largest cities; in Finland, the rural areas and
small towns in the eastern and northern provinces. In this respect, the
situation in Scandinavia and Iceland resembles that in western Europe, in
Finland again, it resembles that in some of the eastern European countries.
- In all five countries, non-working working-age male substance abusers are
hugely over-represented among homicide offenders and victims.
- In the three Scandinavian countries, immigrants make up to 25 to 40 per cent
of homicide offenders, while in Iceland and Finland their proportion is about
10 per cent. While this difference reflects the sizes of the immigrant
populations, differential risks are also involved. In all Nordic countries, the
homicide offending rates of immigrants are higher than those of native
residents, but this difference is substantially larger in Scandinavia than in
Iceland or Finland.
- The role of alcohol and drinking situations in lethal violence is central in
Finland, Iceland and Sweden, but only moderate in Denmark and insignificant
in Norway. This is reflected in the temporal distribution of homicide incidents;
and to the lower percentage of crimes in near relations and the higher
percentage of male victims in Finland, Iceland and Sweden.
- Concerning firearm homicides, Sweden is currently a clear outlier in the
region with every fourth homicide being perpetrated by firearms. The firearm
homicide rate in Sweden is the highest of all the Nordic countries. The
situation has deteriorated fast in the last few years. Firearm homicides are
concentrated in the metropolitan areas of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö
and to a large extent are linked to gang violence in a few residential districts.
- Nordic homicide clearance rates are among the highest in the world;
offenders are caught and sentenced almost without exception. The official
control policies are effective and arguably contribute to very low homicide
rates in the region when compared with the global situation.