Book excerpt: Nordic Statistical Yearbook 2009 is published for the 47th time. It is a reference book containing comprehensive and easily accessible statistics of various aspects of social life in the five Nordic countries, i.e. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. In addition data are also presented on the selfgoverning regions, i.e. the Faroe Islands, Greenland and the êland Islands. The aim of the yearbook is, as far as possible, to present comparable data on the Nordic ountries. Additional tables can be found free of charge at: http://www.norden.org/en/publications/publications/2009-001.