Finland and Sweden consume more licorice per capita than any other countries on earth. Finland averages approximately 3 kilograms of licorice per person per year. Sweden averages around 2 kilograms. Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and the Netherlands are not far behind. By comparison, average annual licorice consumption in the United States is well under 0.5 kilograms per person. The gap is not marginal, Northern Europeans consume licorice at a rate four to six times higher than Americans, and the reasons are rooted in history, culture, and the singular character of an ingredient that took hold in the Nordic region and never let go.
How Licorice Root Reached Scandinavia
Licorice root, Glycyrrhiza glabra, is native to the Mediterranean basin and Central Asia, nowhere near Scandinavia. Its route north came through centuries of trade. Arab merchants introduced it to southern Europe in the medieval period. Dutch traders, who had established extensive spice and ingredient networks across Europe by the 16th and 17th centuries, brought licorice root extract northward into Scandinavia and Germany. The Dutch themselves developed one of the world's great licorice traditions, drop, the Dutch salted licorice, and their trading relationships with Scandinavian ports were the vector through which Nordic licorice culture began.
By the 19th century, licorice candy production was well established in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. By the early 20th century, it was a fixture of Nordic childhood, appearing in corner shops, market stalls, and household candy bowls across all five Nordic countries.
Why Salmiak Became the Defining Ingredient
The most important reason Scandinavian licorice developed its own character, distinct from licorice elsewhere in Europe, is salmiak. Ammonium chloride was historically available in Scandinavia as a pharmaceutical and industrial mineral, and at some point in the 19th century, confectioners began adding it to licorice candy. The result was transformative: salmiak amplified the earthiness of licorice root, added a sharp, almost electric edge, and created a flavor profile found nowhere else in the world's candy traditions.
The salmiak habit, once established, proved self-reinforcing. Children who grew up eating salmiak licorice developed a taste for it that deepened over a lifetime. Adults who loved it gave it to their children. The cultural transmission was generational and near-universal in Finland and Sweden. Today, salmiak licorice is not a specialty or an acquired taste within Scandinavia, it is simply candy.
For more on salmiak and how it works, see What Is Salmiak? The Science of Ammonium Chloride in Candy.
The Cultural Embedding of Licorice in Sweden
In Sweden, licorice is not simply a candy, it is part of a broader cultural relationship with bold, complex, challenging flavors. Swedish food culture has historically prized intensity: fermented herring (surströmming), aged hard cheeses, rye crispbread, pickled vegetables. Licorice fits naturally into this tradition. It asks something of the taster. It rewards patience and familiarity. It does not apologize for its flavor.
The Swedish word for licorice, lakrits, appears in product names, brand identities, and cultural references across Swedish life in a way that has no equivalent in English-speaking countries. Swedish supermarkets dedicate entire sections to licorice. Swedish pick-and-mix candy counters (lösgodis) feature dozens of licorice varieties as standard. Major Swedish confectionery brands, including Haupt Lakrits, founded in Stockholm, have built their entire identity around premium licorice.
What Country Eats the Most Licorice?
Finland consistently tops the per-capita licorice consumption charts globally, followed closely by Sweden. Both countries have annual per-capita consumption in the 2–3 kilogram range. The Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway also rank significantly above global averages. Germany and the UK have strong licorice traditions as well, though at lower per-capita levels than the Nordic countries.
In absolute market terms, Germany and the Netherlands are among the largest licorice markets by volume, reflecting their large populations. But for per-capita obsession, the depth of the cultural relationship with the ingredient, Finland and Sweden lead the world by a clear margin.
Why Scandinavian Licorice Is Growing in the USA
The American licorice market has historically been dominated by artificially flavored products, brands built on anise oil rather than real licorice root. As premium food culture has grown in the United States, so has interest in authentic ingredients and genuine flavor complexity. Swedish and Dutch licorice brands have found an audience among American consumers who were told they didn't like black licorice and discovered, when they finally tried the real thing, that the issue was never the ingredient, it was the imitation.
Haupt Lakrits ships authentic Swedish black licorice across the United States. The full range, from the gentle Sweet Swedish Bastards to the legendary Svenskjävlar, is available at hauptlakrits.us/collections/licorice. For newcomers to Swedish candy more broadly, see The Complete Buyer's Guide to Swedish Candy Online in the USA.
For the complete guide to Swedish black licorice, see Swedish Black Licorice: The Complete Guide. For how different countries approach licorice, see Licorice Candy Around the World: Sweden, Denmark & the Netherlands.