Antibiotic usage in Nordic countries

The consumption of antibacterials has remained relatively stable in Scandinavia and is low compared with most other countries. Measured as "Defined Daily Doses" (DDD), the highest consumption is found in Iceland and Finland, and the lowest in Denmark and Norway. The consumption in Iceland, Finland and Sweden is about twice that in Norway. The distribution of different classes of antimicrobials shows striking differences. Phenoxymethyl and benzylpenicillin make up about 55% of the DDDs in Sweden and 40% of the DDDs in Denmark and Norway, whereas the narrow-spectrum penicillins represent 20% of the DDDs in Iceland. Fluoroquinolones are little used except in Sweden where they account for about 10% of DDDs. The use of cephalosporins ranges from 1% (in Denmark) to 15% (in Finland) and between 3 and 5% in the other countries. The policy that narrow-spectrum penicillins may be used when necessary but broad-spectrum compounds should be avoided has the positive effect that there is greater susceptibility in the Nordic countries to these antibiotics than elsewhere.