When looking at the general development of alcohol policies, all three countries seem to have liberalised their alcohol policies from 1994 to 2012. The total alcohol policy score for Finland decreased from 122 in 1994 to 109.5 in 2012 and for Sweden from 128.5 in 1994 to 112.5 in 2012. For Norway, the total score decreased from 122 points in 1994 with only half a point to 121.5 in 2012, awarding Norway the title of the having the strictest alcohol policy.
In 2008, Finland had the highest alcohol consumption of the three Nordic countries, reaching a level of 12.5 litres 100 percent alcohol per capita (15+). Since then the consumption in Finland has been on a slight decrease ending at 11.4 litres in 2012
In Sweden, alcohol consumption was on its highest level already in 2004, when per capita alcohol consumption was estimated to be 10.6 litres. Since then there has been a steady decreasing trend and in 2008, alcohol consumption in Sweden was estimated to be 9.8 litres per capita. The decreasing trend in alcohol consumption was somewhat unexpected and continued throughout the last study phase and in 2012 the total per capita consumption figure landed at 9.1 litres, which stands for a 17 percent decrease from the peak figure in 2004
In 1994, Norway had clearly the lowest per capita alcohol consumption of the three at a level of 6.4 litres, but ever since consumption has been on a steady upward trend (Table 5). In 2008, the estimated per capita alcohol consumption had risen with two litres from 1994 and alcohol consumption in Norway was closing in on the Finnish and Swedish figures. The latest estimates from 2012 2 , puts Norway’s alcohol consumption just below Sweden between 8.3 and 8.9 litres alcohol per capita