Latest news 2019

23 Dec 2019 Season’s Greetings and Best Wishes for the New Year

Statistics Finland wishes you a wonderful holiday season and success for the year 2020! Season's Greetings from Statistics Finland

19 Dec 2019 Successful Presidency of the Council Working Party on Statistics

Finland’s six month Presidency of the Council of the EU ends at the end of December. Statistics Finland was responsible for the presidency tasks in the field of statistics. The biggest accomplishment was reaching an agreement both between the member states within the Council Working Party on Statistics and with the European Parliament on a regulation that expands the statistics on migration and international protection.

13 Dec 2019 140 year-old statistical information trove describes a changing Finland

The roots of the Statistical Yearbook of Finland stretches back 140 years. The newly published Statistical Yearbook of Finland 2019 is a comprehensive volume of statistics that describes society and its development in Finland in detail.

12 Dec 2019 Working life in the digital age: enthusiasm, social support - and coping problems

The importance of work has increased for Finnish wage and salary earners but, at the same time, time pressure and coping problems have also increased. Digitalisation has rapidly penetrated Finnish working life. Its effects, however, vary in different wage and salary earner groups.

4 Dec 2019 Dear Finland, we made a video in honour of your independence

The 6th of December is your day of celebration. It is customary to praise the celebrant but as a Finn, giving praise is sometimes difficult. That’s why we searched around the world for information on your successes. Wath the video

4 Dec 2019 Publication of income statistics postponed to next year

Statistics Finland will not publish income distribution statistics nor statistics on taxable income in December because the statistical data on personal taxation produced by the Tax Administration is not yet ready. The statistics can, at the earliest, be published in late January. Read more

4 Dec 2019 What is Finland known for?

Our home country is a model country in many respects. We are at the top of the world, especially when it comes to wellbeing. Finland is a particularly good country for children. In honour of 102-year-old Finland, Statistics Finland has compiled a list of things for which Finland is known across the world.

4 Dec 2019 Release calendar for 2020 published

The release calendar data for 2020 are now available. Take a look at the calendar where you can find information on the statistics and publications that will be released next year.

28 Nov 2019 Free time is even more important to Finns than work

The latest leisure survey describes changes due to digitalisation and the internet, but also things that remain constant in people’s everyday life. Keeping in touch with friends has changed its form, and for many, travel is an increasingly important part of free time. However, spending time at holiday homes still holds its own among Finns’ leisure activities, also among the younger generations.

13 Nov 2019 Seppo Varjonen awarded the Eino H. Laurila national income medal

The Eino H. Laurila national income medal for 2019 has been granted to Seppo Varjonen. The medal is granted in recognition of his extensive international work improving national accounts and promoting their application.

31 Oct 2019 Plenty of applications for Statistics Finland’s Deputy Director General positions

Statistics Finland is restructuring its activities and is recruiting four Deputy Director Generals for strategic management to support this change. The Deputy Director Generals will head four new strategic-level management entities. These are information process, partnerships and ecosystem relations, enabling services, and development and digitalisation.

18 Oct 2019 Statistics Finland recruits four Deputy Director Generals to support restructuring

Statistics Finland has launched a reform of its activities and the organisation. The aim of the restructuring is to change the activities and ways of working so that Statistics Finland would better be able to meet its customers’ needs and more quickly anticipate changes in society. 

7 Oct 2019 Interruption in releasing of statistics on prices of dwellings in housing companies due to reporting changes of the asset transfer tax

The statistics on prices of dwellings in housing companies will not be published in November to December, because no data will be accumulated for approximately a five-week period due to the implementation of an amendment to the act on the asset transfer tax and the Tax Administration's data system renewal. The change will affect the 31 October release as well. 

3 Oct 2019 Over one-half of cultural buildings are museums and art galleries

There were over 2,000 cultural buildings in Finland’s building stock at the end of 2018. Over one-half of them were museums and art galleries. Their share has increased by nearly five percentage points from 1997.

24 Sep 2019 Economic globalization is a manly thing

Women participate – as employees and entrepreneurs – in profitable foreign trade activities far less than men. This finding is based on new information on gender equality in trade compiled by Statistics Finland through combining data from different statistical and administrative registers.
 

18 Sep 2019 Release of two national accounts statistics is postponed

The release of two national accounts statistics will be postponed by one week from this week’s Friday. IT problems have impeded the completion of data.

11 Sep 2019 Database shows that giant enterprises pay taxes

Not even enterprises that build their business activities on intangible assets can steer all of their revenue to tax havens in the modern world, Kristian Taskinen says based on OECD’s ADIMA database in his article of the Tieto&trendit periodical.

10 Sep 2019 OECD comparison shows how the Finnish education system fares internationally

According to the Education at a Glance 2019 comparison, the share of those with tertiary level qualifications has increased at a slower rate in Finland than the OECD average in recent years. However, in Finland, lower tertiary degrees are completed in the target time more often than in the OECD countries on average.

6 Sep 2019 Population and homicide figures from the 18th century to the present day

Statistics Finland's history reaches back to 1865, but there are clearly older data in its databases concerning life in Finland, for example on the development of the population, marriages contracted, homicides and the economy.

29 Aug 2019 All pieces have to fall in place in quality assurance of statistics

The quality of statistics has to be honed to perfection in order for the data to be reliable and usable. It takes more than one trick to ensure the quality of published data. Every step of the process has to be in order.

29 Aug 2019 Finland becomes member of UN’s HLG-PCCB

Statistics Finland's Director General Marjo Bruun has been appointed as a member of UN’s HLG-PCCB. The task of HLG-PCCB is to provide strategic leadership for the sustainable development goal implementation process as it concerns statistical monitoring and reporting.

26 Aug 2019 Nordic Statistical Meeting forerunner in the statistical field – offsets participants’ flight emissions

The Nordic Statistical Meeting organised by Statistics Finland on 26 to 28 August 2019 is the first Nordic Statistical Meeting to offset foreign participants’ air and sea travel emissions.

21 Aug 2019 Findicator gathers indicators from several different organisations together in one service

The upcoming fall, the Findicator service will celebrate its 10th anniversary. The service gathers together indicators describing social development, which are produced by Statistics Finland and several other domestic organisations.

19 Aug 2019 Nordic Statistical Meeting brings together topline speakers – including Tarja Halonen, Siim Sikkut and Esa Mäkinen

Nearly 400 statistical professionals have registered for the Nordic Statistical Meeting (NSM2019) organised by Statistics Finland. The number is higher than ever before.

23 Jul 2019 Publication of statistics on Finnish travel is discontinued for the time being

Statistics Finland will discontinue the publication of the thrice-yearly statistics on Finnish travel for the time being. The aim of the suspension is to allow sufficient time to implement the methodological changes caused by the data collection model in order to ensure the quality and continuity of the statistics. Read more.

1 Jul 2019 Regulations on migration and the European Statistical Programme in focus during the Presidency of the Council Working Party on Statistics

During Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU, Statistics Finland is responsible for the Presidency of the Council Working Party on Statistics. Two important and challenging statistical regulation proposals will be dealt with during Finland’s term.

25 Jun 2019 Statistical Conference provides insight into challenges for national statistical organizations

National statistical organizations around the world increasingly must innovate with alternative data sources to provide their citizens with the types of information they require to make informed decisions. The CES Plenary is one opportunity where the international body of statisticians can share and learn. The Conference of European Statisticians (CES) will host the 67th Plenary Session in Paris between 26 and 28 June 2019.

20 Jun 2019 Publication of preliminary annual national accounts data accelerated by one month

Preliminary annual national accounts data have been released with the accelerated schedule for the first time on 20 June 2019. Previously, corresponding data would have been published in the second week of July.

19 Jun 2019 Marjo Bruun continues as Director General of Statistics Finland

Today on 19 June 2019, the Government appointed Marjo Bruun as Director General of Statistics Finland for a five-year term. The appointment will take effect on 1 July 2019. Ms Bruun has acted as Director General of Statistics Finland since 2012.

12 Jun 2019 January data of the wage and salary indices are published using new source data

On 13 June 2019, Statistics Finland publishes January 2019 data of the wage and salary indices. The data can become revised as the wage and salary reports in the Incomes Register are supplemented with data for January. Read more

11 Jun 2019 Pocket-size information about Finland

Statistics Finland’s new Finland in Figures 2019 publication summarises key statistical figures about Finland and Finns into a pocket-size information package. The renewed package of information about Finland includes data sections on the population, economy, society and the environment.

4 Jun 2019 A mixed bag of people work on zero-hour contracts

The variety of people working on zero-hour contracts is multifaceted. On the one hand, they include students and pensioners for a majority of whom this type of contract is fine. On the other hand, the group contains both full-time and part-time employees. Paid work is their main type of activity and a different type of contract would be preferable, writes Anna Pärnänen in her blog post.

29 May 2019 National accounts are renewed: Changes to the methodology of the quarterly national accounts and StatFin tables

The calculation methods and release content of national accounts are revised. The calculation method for value added is revised in the quarterly national accounts publication on 29 May 2019. The StatFin tables of the national accounts are also revised.

23 May 2019 Measuring of consumer confidence is renewed

The name of the Consumer Survey is changing in May: the new name of the statistics is Consumer Confidence. Consumer Confidence differs from the Consumer Survey in terms of the inquiry, lighter data content and the Consumer Confidence Indicator. The first consumer confidence statistics are published on 27 May 2019.

17 May 2019 New guidelines for the evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and its 195 parties have approved revised methodological guidelines for the evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions and removals. The new guidelines supplement the currently used guidelines, for example, in terms of default values and emission factors. 

13 May 2019 Statistics Finland establishes a cooperation network to develop Finnish UN indicators

In February 2019, the website of UN indicators for sustainable development was published. During spring, Statistics Finland will establish a cooperation network consisting of the key data producers to support the maintenance and development of the indicators.

3 Apr 2019 Production of statistics on wage and salary indices is discontinued for the time being

Statistics Finland discontinues the production of data on wage and salary indices for the time being due to deficiencies in the data. Deficiencies in the data are caused by that all the required data have not yet been reported to the Incomes Register. Read more

26 Mar 2019 As of 7 May 2019 statistical releases will be published at 8 am

Statistics Finland will advance the publication of its statistical releases so that in future, releases are published on the website at 8 am. The present time of release is 9 am. The change will concern all statistical releases starting from 7 May.

26 Mar 2019 Sales records for Finnish art centre around a few artists

Altogether 48 times at least EUR 200,000 has been paid for a Finnish painting sold at a Finnish art auction. For seven paintings, EUR half a million or more was paid. These data derive from Statistics Finland’s Cultural Statistics table service.

15 Mar 2019 What are National Accounts built from?

National Accounts are a huge statistical system to which data flow from several different sources. Watch the video to see how the whole picture of the economy is built.

11 Mar 2019 Statistics Finland examines the education and training of persons with foreign background

In spring 2019, Statistics Finland will carry out an inquiry related to the education and training of the foreign population. The inquiry is directed to persons with foreign background living in Finland whose qualifications attained abroad are not known.

8 Mar 2019 Data on wage and salary indices for January 2019 are not published

Statistics Finland will not publish data on the wage and salary indices for January 2019 because of deficiencies in the data. Deficiencies in the data are caused by that all the required data have not yet been reported to the Incomes Register. Further information

7 Mar 2019 Industrial classification of video game enterprises is reviewed - enterprises transferred from programming to publishing

Statistics Finland has reviewed the industrial classification of close on 300 enterprises, whose business activity is related to video games. As a result of the inquiry, the industrial classification of close on 30 enterprises was changed. As a consequence, enterprises, turnover and staff years are moved between industries in the statistics.

28 Feb 2019 National Accounts will be reviewed: publishing becomes faster and more consistent

Statistics Finland is speeding up the publishing of annual national accounts. From this year onwards, preliminary annual data are already updated in connection with quarterly data. The first accelerated preliminary annual statistics will be released on 20 June 2019.

18 Feb 2019 Marja Rantala from the National Land Survey of Finland appointed Statistics Finland’s Director of Development

Marja Rantala, Deputy Director General of the National Land Survey of Finland becomes Statistics Finland’s fixed-term Director of Development at the Standards and Methods Department for the period between 18 February and 31 December 2019. Appointing a fixed-term Director from a partner agency supports the implementation of Statistics Finland’s strategic objectives at the same time as it creates preconditions for ever stronger networking of central government information actors.

12 Feb 2019 UN sustainable development indicators for Finland compiled into a new website

Statistics Finland has published a website open for all on the UN indicators for sustainable development, from which it is possible to follow the attainment of the sustainable development goals of the UN’s Agenda 2030 in Finland. The indicators can be viewed by means of database tables and figures.

6 Feb 2019 Erkki Virtanen, Johnny Åkerholm and Martti Hetemäki awarded the Eino H. Laurila national income medal

The medals are granted in recognition of their active work in promoting the analytical use of national accounts and its application in preparation of economic policy.

25 Jan 2019 Information about residential areas in Paavo

In which postal code areas in Finland are there most households with children under school-age? And pensioners? The data can be found from Statistics Finland’s free-of-charge Paavo service. The service’s data have been updated today, on Paavo's name day.

15 Jan 2019 Users of statistical data ever more active

Statistics Finland's data are used more regularly than before: now as many as two-thirds of the respondents to the Customer Satisfaction Survey say they use the data regularly. This appears from the survey made by Taloustutkimus, to which good 300 data users responded.

8 Jan 2019 Statistics Finland continues compilation of statistics on oil products

Statistics compilation on oil products pertaining to the activity of the Finnish Petroleum and Biofuels Association has ended in November 2018. Statistics Finland will continue the compilation of statistics on oil data made by the Finnish Petroleum and Biofuels Association, where applicable.