Norway’s success at the 2026 Winter Olympics is even more impressive when considering the country’s small population. With just 5.6 million inhabitants, the Scandinavian country won a total of 41 medals, including a record-breaking 18 gold medals. That equates to 7.27 medals per million population – by far the largest success rate of any participating country.
Norway is followed by the Alpine nations Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia – all relatively small in population size – as well as Sweden, Netherlands and Latvia. The United States, with its population of almost 350 million, ranks 23rd in the table with a medals-per-million rate of 0.09. China, the world’s second most populous country is even further behind with 0.01 medals per million inhabitants. Among countries with a population of more than 30 million, Canada ranks highest with 0.52 medals per million, just ahead of host nation Italy with 0.51.
