There’s a recent paper and X-thread by Johan Norberg of the Cato Instutute that evaluates Sweden’s polices during the pandemic, and argues that these were superior on multiple grounds to the more restrictive approaches taken by other countries. In particular, argues Johan, Sweden performed as well or better than comparable countries with respect to all relevant metrics—economic growth, education outcomes, and excess deaths—all while avoiding lockdown and relying on voluntary compliance with public health guidelines.
I agree Karin, but the graph I posted takes account of age in an interesting and revealing way. It shows cumulative deaths relative to pre-pandemic projections, and the Swedish curve is downward sloping after the initial surge. The early deaths were concentrated among the elderly and those with serious co-morbidities, so in later years the population was younger and healthier relative to pre-pandemic projections and excess deaths were accordingly lower. This is part of the reason for convergence with Norway.
I think excess deaths are much more meaningfully compared if grouped by age. The life-years lost are considerably different depending on whether young or old people are dying. That distinction is made in Canadian data by this paper: https://www.jccf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/The-rise-of-excess-and-unexplained-deaths-in-Canada_Justice-Centre.pdf
I agree Karin, but the graph I posted takes account of age in an interesting and revealing way. It shows cumulative deaths relative to pre-pandemic projections, and the Swedish curve is downward sloping after the initial surge. The early deaths were concentrated among the elderly and those with serious co-morbidities, so in later years the population was younger and healthier relative to pre-pandemic projections and excess deaths were accordingly lower. This is part of the reason for convergence with Norway.