By the end of 2022, Canada will pass Australia and Norway to claim the third-highest penetration rate among internet users, behind only the US and Sweden. Of the countries that already have high rates of podcast adoption, none will grow listenership as quickly as Canada over the next two years.

In China, ecommerce sales will make up a substantial share of 2022's total retail sales at 46.3%, while the UK and South Korea will round out the top 3, with 36.3% and 32.2% ecommerce shares, respectively.

Key context: Bitcoin and other PoW cryptos have been highly criticized for their environmental impact—Bitcoin mining consumes more energy than Norway, according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index. While efforts like proof-of-stake—meant to be a less energy-intensive mining process—are gaining steam in the wider crypto space, that doesn’t address cryptos’ extreme price volatility.

The decision to double down on nuclear energy is poised to lower energy prices and carbon emissions and reduce the need for energy imports from Norway, Sweden, and Russia. Other countries are divided on nuclear energy. France joins Finland in building more reactors, Germany shuts down its plants, and Italy’s government is split on the issue.

Tink recently expanded into five new markets, including the Netherlands and Norway. Open banking-powered payments cut cards out of the transaction process, so Visa may be looking to use Tink to avoid being disintermediated and to create new card-powered payment synergies with the technology.

We’ve lowered our estimates for Facebook users in Western Europe, with the biggest declines seen in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Spain. On the heels of 2021, when the number of monthly active users in the region climbed just 0.2%, we predict another minimal increase in 2022.

The Norway-based expense management app developer Sonya said that it will partner with Swedish impact technology provider Doconomy to offer a complete overview of the environmental impact of corporate activities—along with the more usual employee expense management and accounting. What’s the appeal?

Silicon provider Elkem, headquartered in Norway, stated that silicon prices in Europe reached all-time highs in October and November. Europe's ambitions to overcome the chip crisis, by building new fabs and increasing output, may not go as planned without some action by the authorities to prevent disruptive electricity price hikes.

In China and the US, 59% of internet users are comfortable using secondhand clothing items, making those countries where the resale fashion economy is most ripe for growth.

In 2021, the country ranked fifth globally in podcast penetration among internet users, at 32.8% (behind the US, Sweden, Norway, and Australia), per our forecast. Podcasts are a sticky medium.