The late summer abundance of higher taxonomic units of arthropods on different types of coastal tundra in Spitsbergen (approx. 79°N, 12°E) was assessed by means of suction sampling of vegetation and litter and soil samples. Acari and Collembola comprised 96—99 % of the total number of arthropods and some Araneae and Diptera and a few Hymenoptera were regularly recorded. The total abundance (ind./m2) varied between 42—63,000 on lichen covered tundra, 268,000 on wet moss tundra, and 518,000 on grassland. There were considerable similarities in the abundance of major groups of arthropods between the Spitsbergen tundra and high alpine grounds in southern Norway, although in the former area some groups were absent.