Board composition

New directors

86 directors — three of them chairs — were appointed across the top 25 company boards in each respective market in the period covered by this report (1 June 2023 to 31 May 2024). New appointees as a percentage of all directors fell slightly, from 14% last year to 11% this year.

	All	Denmark	Finland	Norway	Sweden
New directors	11%	9%	16%	14%	7%
Of which are female	48%	40%	42%	54%	57%
Of which are foreign	36%	47%	39%	42%	7%

Boards in Finland had the largest proportion of new NEDs at 16%, followed by Norwegian boards (14%), Danish boards (9%), and Swedish boards (7%). A significant proportion of new NEDs across the region was composed of either women and/or non-nationals: 48% of new non-executives were women, and 36% were non-nationals.

Sweden recorded the highest proportion of female new NEDs (57%); Denmark recorded the highest proportion of foreign new NEDs (47%)

35% of new non-executives had portfolio careers, and 65% are current executives.

New directors in the Nordics have on average 0.8 external board commitments, slightly up from the 0.6 recorded in 2023. New directors appointed to Swedish boards are the busiest, with 1.5 additional boards on average.

The average age of all new non-executives is 56 years old, the same as seen in the 2023 Index. The average age of all non-executives is 59 (also the same as recorded in 2023).

	Age	External boards	Portfolio	Current executives
All non-executives	59.1	1	56%	44%
New non-executives	56.3	0.8	35%	65%

Three new chairs in our board sample were appointed this year. They are: Helena Stjernholm (SCA), John Lapveteläinen (Mandatum), and Par Boman (Volvo).

Consistent with the wider group, most new directors have an industrial background (40%). A financial services background is the next most commonly represented sector (27%), followed by TMT&S (13%)

Amongst newly appointed directors, group CEO experience is most common (44%), followed by functional leadership backgrounds at 19%, and P&L leadership experience at 15%.

First-time directors

36% of new non-executives are sitting on their first listed board, an increase from the 31% across the region recorded last year.

48% (15) of non-executives appointed to a public board for the first time are women. In Norway, females make up 70% (seven) of first-time non-executives — the highest share in the region. This is followed by Finland (50%, six), Sweden (25%, one) and Denmark (20%, one).

55% (17) of directors appointed to a public board for the first time are foreign, up from the 50% recorded in the 2023 Board Index.  In Norway, 80% (eight) of first-time non-executives are foreign — the highest share in the region — followed by Sweden (50%, two), Finland (42%, five) and Denmark (40%, two).

84% of first-time directors hold executive positions; only 16% of them have portfolio careers.

At 55%, an industrial background is most common amongst this year’s cohort of first-time directors, and reflects the sector background of the wider group. The second most common background is TMT&S (16%).

The average age of first-time non-executives is 55.7 years. There is nearly a four-year difference between women (53.6) and men (57.4).

Board size

The average board size in the Nordics, including employee representatives, is 9.7, a marginal increase from last year’s 9.5. If employee representatives are excluded, average board size also increases slightly, to 7.7 (from 7.6).

Size of boards in Nordic companies

	All	Denmark	Finland	Norway	Sweden
Including ER	9.7	9.9	8.6	9.3	10.9
Excluding ER	7.7	6.9	8.3	6.6	8.8

The highest share of employee representation is seen in Denmark; in Finland the model is less common. When employee representatives are excluded, the largest boards are also found in Sweden (8.8 on average).

Independence

Levels of independence among non-executives remains relatively stable in the Nordics. 79% of non-executives are considered independent across the region, consistent with the 79% seen in 2023.

The average independence of boards is highest in Finland, where 92% of directors are independent. It is followed by Denmark (78%), Norway, (76%) and Sweden (70%).

17 CEOs sit on boards in the region, all of them in Sweden.

Length of service

The average tenure of non-executives (excluding chairs) in the region is 4.7 years. Finland records the shortest average tenure (3.6), and Sweden the longest (6.0).

Among chairs, average board tenure in the region is 7.5 years. Sweden has the longest average chair tenure, at 9.4 years, and Norway has the shortest at 6.5 years. Chairs in Denmark and Finland record average tenures of 7.4 years and 6.8 years, respectively.

Age of directors

The average age of non-executive directors (excluding chairs) is 58.6 years. Non-executives in Norway are again the youngest in the region, with an average age of 57.1 years. Denmark records the highest average age, at 59.9.

In terms of chairs, the average age is 62.2 years old, a slight increase from 61.9 in 2023. Denmark has the youngest chairs (58.8) and Finland has the oldest (64).

As expected, newly appointed non-executives are the youngest across all countries, the average age being 50.1 years. Finland has the youngest new directors (45.3) while Denmark has the oldest (58.6).

Women are younger than men across all board roles in the region, with the exception of chairs. Female chairs are on average 64.6 years old, while their male counterparts are 62.1. Female non-executives (excluding chairs) are aged on average 57.1 years their male counterparts average 60.4 years. New female NEDs are on average 51.6 years old; new male NEDs average 56.8 years. Among new directors, the age difference between men and women has increased, from two years in 2023 to nearly five years in 2024.

Executive directors

Executives occupy very few board seats — their share currently stands at 2%. The combined role of chair and CEO is not common practice in the region and is not seen in our sample.

Executive directors are most prevalent on boards in Sweden. 17 executives sit on Swedish boards, representing 94% of executives in our sample across the Nordics. They are all CEOs.
One executive director sits on a Finnish board; there are none in Denmark or Norway.