Data sources for NCD indicators

Norwegian Cause of Death Registry

The Norwegian Cause of Death Registry contains information on underlying causes of death based on notices of death completed by doctors. The Cause of Death Registry contains medical information on a total of 98 per cent of deaths.

• Norwegian Cause of Death Registry

Norwegian Patient Registry

The Norwegian Patient Registry contains health information about individuals  who have received or are waiting for treatment in the specialist healthcare services.

• Norwegian Patient Registry (in Norwegian)

Norwegian Control and Payment of Health Reimbursements (KUHR) Database

KUHR (Control and Payment of Health Reimbursements) contains diagnoses that are recorded at each patient contact with general practitioners, emergency services, and other healthcare professionals who provide services reimbursed by the National Insurance Scheme.

• KUHR-databasen (in Norwegian)

The Norwegian Prescribed Drug Registry contains a comprehensive overview of all prescription medicines dispensed from pharmacies. Data on medication use can be found in the statistics bank of the registry.

• Norwegian Prescribed Drug Registry (in Norwegian)

The Cancer Registry of Norway holds information on new cancer cases in the population. It is based on the results from analyzed tissue samples and information from doctors who diagnose, treat and follow up cancer patients. Each year, the Cancer Registry publishes the report “Cancer in Norway”, which contains complete incidence data for the different types of cancer. In addition, data are available in the Nordic cancer statistics database NORDCAN. 

The Cancer Registry of Norway also runs the Norwegian Cervical Cancer Screening Program, the national screening programme in which all women between the ages of 25 and 69 years regularly receive letters reminding them to have a cervical smear test taken by their general practitioner. The Norwegian Cervical Cancer Screening Program issues an annual report.   

• Cancer Registry of Norway
• NORDCAN (nordcan.iarc.fr)
• Norwegian Cervical Screening Program 

The Norwegian Cardiovascular Disease Registry contains data on hospital admissions and outpatient consultations with patients with cardiovascular diseases, sourced from the Norwegian Patient Registry, information on deaths from the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry, as well as more detailed information about cases from the medical quality registries for cardiovascular diseases, such as the Norwegian Stroke Registry and the Norwegian Myocardial Infarction Registry.

• Norwegian Cardiovascular Disease Registry

The Tromsø Study started in 1974 and consists of repeated health surveys of the population in Tromsø municipality. The two most recent surveys are particularly relevant to the period that the World Health Organization would like reports on (2010-2030). Tromsø6 (2007-2008) included nearly 13,000 adults aged 30-87 years and had an attendance rate of 63 per cent. Tromsø7 (2015-2016) included over 21,000 adults aged 40 and older and had an attendance rate of 65 per cent. 

The youth survey in the Tromsø Study, Fit Futures 1 (2010-2011) included students (aged 16-17) in the first year of upper secondary school in Tromsø and Balsfjord municipalities, and had a attendance rate of 93 per cent. Participants were invited to a follow-up survey in their third year (aged 18-19 years), Fit Futures 2 (2012-2013), which had a attendance rate of 77 per cent.

• Tromsø Study (uit.no) 

The Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) began with HUNT1 in 1984-86 and consists of repeated health surveys performed on the population in Trøndelag County. 

The two most recent surveys are particularly relevant for the period that the World Health Organization would like reports on (2010-2030). HUNT3 (2006-08) included nearly 51,000 individuals aged 20 and older and had an attendance rate of 54 per cent. HUNT4 (2017-19) included over 56,000 individuals aged 20 and older and had an attendance rate of 54 per cent.

The youth surveys, UngHUNT1 (1995-1997) with a follow-up in 2000-01, and UngHUNT3 (2006-2008) and UngHUNT4 (2017-2019), included health surveys of adolescents aged 13-19 years (lower and upper secondary school). Over 9,000 adolescents took part in UngHUNT1 with a 90 per cent attendance rate, over 8 000 adolescents took part in UngHUNT3 with a 78 per cent attendance rate, and over 8000 adolescents took part in UngHUNT4.

• HUNT – Trøndelag Health Study (ntnu.no) 

• Tobacco in Norway (in Norwegian)  
• Norwegian Survey of Smoking Habits (ssb.no) (in Norwegian)  

The Norwegian Survey of Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs is a telephone-based nationally representative survey of tobacco, alcohol, and other substances, conducted by Statistics Norway on behalf of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. From 2015, the second quarter of the Survey of Smoking Habits was conducted as part of the Survey of Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs, and in 2023 the Survey of Smoking Habits was fully integrated into the Survey of Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs. In 2024, the responsibility for conducting the survey was transferred to the Norwegian Directorate of Health.

From 2012 to 2023, the Survey of Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs included 3,000 individuals aged 16-79 years, with an additional 700 oversampled young adults aged 16-30 years. The survey has been conducted every year since 2012 between Easter and the summer holidays, except for 2023, when parts of the survey were conducted after the summer holidays. In 2024, following the merger with the Smoking Habits Survey, the sample size was increased to 8,000 individuals. The most recent survey had a response rate of approximately 60 percent.

• Alcohol in Norway (in Norwegian)
• Norwegian Survey of Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs (ssb.no) (in Norwegian)

The statistics compiled by Statistics Norway are based on data from the Directorate of Customs and Excise, as well as recorded imports. The data include recorded sales of alcohol. Unrecorded consumption in the form of home-distilled alcohol, tourist imports, duty-free sales or smuggled goods is not included.

• Statistics on alcohol sales (ssb.no)

The National Dietary Surveys provide individual-level data on the intake of food and drinks in nationally representative samples of the population of Norway. So far, national dietary surveys among adults have been conducted in 1993, 1997, 2010-2011 and 2022-2023. The surveys have been carried out by the Department of Nutrition at the University of Oslo in collaboration with the Norwegian Directorate of Health, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the Norwegian Food Safety Authority.  

Norkost 4 was conducted in 2022-2023 in a nationally representative sample of adults aged 18-80 years, with a 40 per cent participation rate (a total of 1964 individuals participated). The method used was a combination of repeated 24-hour dietary recall interviews and a food propensity questionnaire. The same method was used in the previous survey, Norkost 3, which was conducted in 2010-2011 in a nationally representative sample of adults aged 18-70 years, with a 37 percent participation rate (1787 participants).

• Norkost 4 (hdir.no) (in Norwegian)
• Norkost 3 (hdir.no) (in Norwegian)

The annual report Developments in the Norwegian Diet (hdir.no) issued by the Norwegian Directorate of Health is based, among other things, on food supply statistics, which provide wholesale-level information on the net supply of foodstuffs in kilograms per capita per year. These figures offer rough estimates and do not provide details on the proportions of foodstuffs consumed by adults, children and domestic animals respectively, or on the proportion being thrown away. Data from Statistics Norway’s consumer surveys are also used.    

Physical activity among 9- and 15-year-olds in Norway (UngKAN [Physical Activity among Norwegian Children Study (PANCS)]) was surveyed in nationally representative samples in 2005-2006 (with 89 and 74 per cent participation, respectively) 2011 (with 73 and 63 per cent participation, respectively) and 2017-2018 (with 73 and 58 per cent participation, respectively). The surveys include both responses to questionnaires and objective measurements of physical activity, physical fitness, height, weight, and waist circumference.

Physical activity among adults and the elderly in Norway (KAN [Norwegian National Physical Activity Survey (NNPAS)]) was surveyed in nationally representative samples in 2009-2010 (32 per cent participation), 2014-2015 (29 per cent participation), and 2021-2022 (31 percent participation). The surveys include both responses to questionnaires and objective measurements.

The surveys have been conducted by the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences on behalf of the Directorate of Health and later as a collaboration between the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. The ungKan4 survey will be conducted in 2024-2026 by the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in collaboration with the Directorate of Health and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

• KAN og ungKAN (nih.no) (in Norwegian)

The Child Growth Study took the height, weight and waist circumference measurements of a nationally representative sample of pupils in 3rd grade of primary school (8-year-olds). The study was conducted in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2019 in collaboration with the School Health Service, under the direction of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

• Child Growth Study (in Norwegian)

The Norwegian Immunisation Registry SYSVAK maintains an overview of the individual vaccination statuses and vaccination coverage in Norway.

The Norwegian Childhood Immunisation Programme includes a range of different vaccines recommended by the health authorities for children and adolescents. Basic vaccination mainly takes place during infancy and early childhood, and for most vaccines, booster shots are offered during school age. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health is responsible for purchasing the vaccines for the Childhood Immunisation Programme and their distribution to the municipalities. Vaccination takes place at public health clinics and through the school health service and is free of charge. All administered vaccines are registered at individual level in SYSVAK.

The Childhood Immunisation Programme issues an annual report that includes coverage statistics, reported cases of diseases against which vaccinations are provided, and the type of vaccines used.

• Norwegian Immunisation Registry SYSVAK
• Norwegian Childhood Immunisation Programme
• Norwegian Childhood Immunisation Programm's annual  reports (in Norwegian)