The Covid-19 pandemic has failed to alter the spending habits of the Nordic consumer.
Stockholm-based Mediavision reports the average household in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden spent approximately €70 per month on media during fall of 2020, much the same as was the case in early 2020 before the pandemic took hold.
Nordic households spend a combined €150 per month on media and mobile/broadband services. In media video, which includes pay-TV, streaming and cinema, takes the largest share. But with cinemas hit very hard by the pandemic, the medium has lost an average 50% of consumer spend compared to 2019.
There are significant differences between the Nordic countries. For example, households in Denmark pay almost 30% more for video than the Nordic average. Denmark has a traditionally strong pay-TV market which is still comparatively resilient despite the increased competition.
Finland is the only country where household spend on media and mobile/broadband services declined significantly during 2020. This development was driven by a lower spend on text and video.
In Norway, the overall consumer spend on media is high, almost 30% above the Nordic average. Norway is also the only country where spend on media increased during the fall, albeit by little.
Like Finland, Swedish households spend less on media than the Nordic average – especially on video. Lower video spend is driven by cinema shutdown and a high degree of digitalization in the subscription business. But like the other Nordics, video still represents the largest share of media spend.
