Group Insurance Benchmarking: Are Nordic Employers Keeping Pace?

Our annual benchmarking exercise, drawing on data from over 150 Nordic employers across Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland, reveals a market in which provision varies significantly — both between countries and between sectors within countries.

Group life insurance provision is the most consistent element of the Nordic benefits landscape. The majority of employers in our sample provide death-in-service benefits at a multiple of between two and four times annual salary, broadly in line with collective agreement minimums where these apply. However, a significant minority — particularly among smaller employers and those without collective agreement coverage — provide benefits at or below the statutory minimum only.

Disability insurance provision shows greater variation. Long-term disability cover, which supplements the statutory sick pay and rehabilitation frameworks, is provided by approximately 70% of employers in our sample. However, the quality of cover varies considerably, with some arrangements providing meaningful income replacement and others offering only nominal supplementation of statutory benefits.

Health insurance — covering private medical treatment and, increasingly, mental health support — has seen the most significant growth in provision over the past five years. In Sweden, private health insurance is now provided by approximately 65% of employers in our sample, up from around 40% five years ago. The growth is driven partly by waiting times in the public healthcare system and partly by the increasing focus on mental health support.

The benchmarking data suggests that many Nordic employers have not reviewed their group insurance arrangements in the past three years. Given the changes in both the insurance market and the workforce expectations over that period, a structured review is likely to identify both gaps in provision and opportunities for more cost-effective arrangements.