Conclusion and recommendations

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This report evaluates disability statistics available in the Eurostat database with the aim of identifying indicators that are relevant, comparable, and sufficiently regular for inclusion in the Nordic Statistics Database. The findings show that Eurostat already provides a substantial basis for disability monitoring in the Nordic region, particularly in the areas of disability prevalence, education and training, labour market participation, income and living conditions, health status, and access to information.

At the same time, the evaluation shows that the availability of suitable indicators remains uneven across sectors. While some indicators meet the quality requirements for inclusion, others are constrained by limited periodicity, gaps in country coverage or reduced comparability across the Nordic countries.

The summary table shows the themes covered by the 17 indicators that were identified as strong candidates for inclusion in the Nordic Statistics Database, together with the 11 indicators that do not fulfil the criteria but remain relevant for policy evaluation and are documented in the report for future reference.

Eurostat: Disability Database	Number of recommended indicators
Disability prevalence	6
Access to education and training	4
Access to the labour market	4
Income and living conditions	1
Health status and determinants	1
Access to information and communication technologies	1
Leisure and social participation	0 (7)
Social protection	0
Access to health and care services	0
Disability – historical data	0
Eurostat: Other databases	Number of recommended indicators
Discrimination	0 (4)
Total	17 (28)

The indicators provide a stronger statistical basis for monitoring outcomes in policy areas that are central to implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Nordic countries. Their inclusion in the Nordic Statistics Database would support the assessment of progress towards greater equality, inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities across the Nordic region. A key limitation, however, is the lack of European statistics that meet the requirements for publication with regard to several important provisions of the Convention, including Article 5 on equality and non-discrimination, Article 9 on accessibility, Article 19 on living independently and being included in the community, and Article 24 on education.