Rents of dwellings: documentation of statistics

The index of rents of dwellings covers non-subsidised rental dwellings and government-subsidised rental dwellings rented in Finland. The observations included in the statistics represent rental dwellings in terraced houses and blocks of flats.

The observation unit for rents of dwellings is a rental dwelling. The identification data of observations are a permanent building identifier in register data by means of which the basic data are combined with other administrative data.

The framework for the rental dwelling stock used in the calculation of the statistics on rents is based on the built environment information system maintained by the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke). All dwellings in blocks of flats and terraced houses in permanent use that are not institutional dwellings (halls of residence, services flats and old people's homes) and that tenants occupy on the basis of a rental agreement are selected from the register.

The rent level of dwellings rented by private persons is described with the help of administrative register data. Then rents of dwellings are deduced from rents paid by persons having received housing allowance. The dwelling in which the person receiving housing allowance lives is combined with the building and dwelling data of the Finnish Environment Institute. The data on buildings and dwellings are used to conclude so-called non-subsidised rental dwellings that are divided into dwellings owned by companies and private persons. The selection is made on the basis of the Finnish Tax Administration’s register of owner-occupied dwellings and the dwellings freed from restrictions related to government-subsidised housing production. In practice, company-owned non-subsidised rental dwellings are specified first and the rest of the rental dwellings are defined as rental dwellings owned by private persons. Rental dwellings owned by private individuals are dwellings in which the owners do not live themselves. In addition, private rental dwellings include dwellings whose owner is not an enterprise and which the tenant has reported as a rental dwelling with a change of address notification.

The basic classification levels of rents of dwellings are the whole country and rest of Finland.

Regional classifications of different levels are used in the statistics. The most detailed classification level is the sub-area classification of urban areas, which is based on the post code classification according to the price level and location of old dwellings in housing companies. In addition to municipalities, regions and major regions, different combination areas, such as Greater Helsinki and satellite municipalities, are used in the statistics. The Greater Helsinki area includes Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen. The satellite municipalities are Hyvinkää, Järvenpää, Kerava, Kirkkonummi, Nurmijärvi, Riihimäki, Sipoo, Tuusula and Vihti. A detailed regional classification can be found on the homepage of the statistics under Classifications.

Quarterly data for the statistics on rents have been produced as a supplementary data collection of the Labour Force Survey since 2004. The data from the monthly data collection have also been used for the production of the Consumer Price Index. In addition, annual statistics on rents have been produced where the data collected for the Labour Force Survey have been supplemented with data from the Social Insurance Institution's housing allowance register.

The quarterly statistics on rents were last reviewed in 2019. The statistics started to use the Social Insurance Institution's register of housing allowances and the data of the largest rental housing companies as monthly source data.

The publication of the statistics preceding the present quarterly statistics ended with the last quarter of 2025. As regards the annual statistics, the last release comprised the annual data for 2025.

For comparability reasons, the average rents and index for 2025 were calculated retrospectively with the revised method and data.

The base year of the rent index is 2025 (2025=100).

The data of the quarterly statistics on rents of dwellings are published as index point figures. Change percentages are also calculated based on the indices. In addition, data on average rents are published calculated both for the whole data and for new tenancies. In the data on average rents the measurement unit is EUR/m².

The reference period of the quarterly statistics on rents of dwellings is a quarter. The statistics are released two weeks after the end of the statistical reference year. In addition, the statistics produce monthly rent data for the use of the Consumer Price Index.

The reference area for rents of dwellings is Mainland Finland (whole country excl. Åland). Regional classifications of different levels are used in the statistics. The most detailed classification level is the sub-area classification of urban areas, which is based on the post code classification according to the price level and location of old dwellings in housing companies. In addition to municipalities, regions and major regions, different combination areas, such as Greater Helsinki and satellite municipalities, are used in the statistics. The Greater Helsinki area includes Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen. The satellite municipalities are Hyvinkää, Järvenpää, Kerava, Kirkkonummi, Nurmijärvi, Riihimäki, Sipoo, Tuusula and Vihti. A detailed regional classification can be found on the homepage of the statistics under Classifications.

The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. The Statistics Act contains provisions on collection of data, processing of data and the obligation to provide data. Besides the Statistics Act, the General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities are applied to processing of data when producing statistics.

Statistics Finland compiles statistics in line with the EU’s regulations applicable to statistics, which steer the statistical agencies of all EU Member States.

Further information: Statistical legislation

The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. The Statistics Act contains provisions on collection of data, processing of data and the obligation to provide data. Besides the Statistics Act, the Data Protection Act and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities are applied to processing of data when producing statistics. 

Statistics Finland compiles statistics in line with the EU’s regulations applicable to statistics, which steer the statistical agencies of all EU Member States.  

Further information: Statistical legislation

The data of the statistics are supplied monthly to the use of the Consumer Price Index. Through the Consumer Price Index, rent data are also delivered monthly to Eurostat.

The data of the quarterly statistics on rents are based on the Social Insurance Institution's register of housing allowances, on the data on rental dwellings of rental housing companies and on monthly data of the rental listing service. In addition, Statistics Finland’s dwelling stock data based on the Finnish Environment Institute's built environment information system and the Tax Administration's register of rental income are also utilised in the compilation of the quarterly statistics. The observations included in the statistics represent rental dwellings in terraced houses and blocks of flats.

The data for the statistics on rents of dwellings are collected monthly.

The Social Insurance Institution and the largest rental housing companies supply the data of the housing allowance register as a monthly data transfer via an interface.

In terms of rent sums, the data of the register of housing allowances are checked with euro-denominated and distribution-based limit processing. The numbers and percentages of observations removed in the processing are monitored through system reporting.

The average rents of rental dwellings per square metre describe the current rent level in dwellings of different size and type. The calculation is based on exhaustive register and dwelling stock data concerning both recipients of housing allowance and rental housing company dwellings.

Using the Tax Administration's register of rental income, non-subsidised, privately owned observations have been identified by statistical methods from the asking rent data in the rental listing service. The reference month for each observation is defined as the month in which the rental listing was removed from the service. The asking rents in rental listings represent new tenancies in the statistics.

The data have been weighted based on data from the built environment information system. The weighting is made by post-stratifying the data with respect to the type of rental dwelling (rental housing companies, private and government-subsidised rental dwellings), number of rooms (1, 2 and 3+ rooms) and the regional classification of the statistics. The average is estimated for each publication level so that the weighted total sum of rents is divided by the weighted total sum of floor areas.

The statistics are used by Eurostat, the European Central Bank, international organizations (including the OECD and the UN), and Finland’s public administration to monitor and analyze developments in the rental market. Businesses and research institutes use the data to assess trends in the rental market. At Statistics Finland, the Consumer Price Index and the quarterly national accounts use turnover indices as source data.

Cases with missing information about rent or floor area, or with exceptionally high or low rent due to contract within family or error in data entry are not accepted into the statistics.

The data are corrected so that clearly erroneous cases are first removed from the data. After this, observations are removed from the data if they are below the lowest three per cent based on the distribution of rent per square metre.

For privately financed rental dwellings, the dataset contains undercoverage. The housing allowance register of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland does not include observations from the highest rent levels.

Quality management requires comprehensive guidance of activities. The European Statistics Code of Practice forms the basis for the common quality system of the European Statistical System.

The Code of Practice is based on 16 principles that concern statistical authorities' independence, accountability and the quality of the processes and data to be published.

The principles are in line with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics approved by the United Nations Statistics Commission and are supplementary to them. The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice.

Further information: European Statistics Code of Practice | Statistics Finland and Recommendations of the Advisory Board of Official Statistics of Finland | Statistics Finland

When evaluating the reliability of the statistics it should be noted that possible structural changes in the data may have an effect on the end result. In addition, not all the data of the Population Information System and the register of housing allowances are necessarily fully up-to-date.

The register of housing allowances provides information about rents in dwellings of those receiving housing allowance. The register covers all dwellings receiving housing allowance. The timeliness of housing allowance data does not fully correspond with the reference period of the statistics, because the register data are updated during the preceding 12 or 24 months. The housing allowance data have the nature of a sample because they only include rental dwellings receiving housing allowance, and do not structurally necessarily fully correspond with the structure of the entire rental dwelling stock.

The data of rental housing companies describe the whole rental dwelling stock for the participating companies. In the statistics, company data represent all observations based on rental housing companies. The rent index is formed for all rental dwellings included in the index calculation of the data, and there is no separate index for new tenancy agreements like for average rents. New tenancies are included in the index calculation when a pair for them is found in the base period, in practice in the first quarter of the following year. A new tenancy is included in the calculation as soon as the tenants change if the same dwelling was included in the base period, that is, both the old and the new tenants are found in the Social Security Institution's register of housing allowances.

To ensure the reliability of the statistics, data are not published in categories with under 20 observations. The statistics make use of limits on rent per square metre based on the distribution, by which cases clearly deviating from the market level and errors in data are removed.

Quarterly statistics on rents are published quarterly two weeks after the end of the statistical reference period and the data in the publication are final data.

There is no delay in releasing data on the statistics on rents of dwellings. The data are published on the days indicated in the release calendar.

In terms of non-subsidised rental dwellings, the observation data of the statistics are focused on the biggest population centres. For smaller locations, the numbers of observations may be insufficient to calculate the indices.

Quarterly data for the statistics on rents have been produced as a supplementary data collection of the Labour Force Survey since 2004. The data from the monthly data collection have also been used for the production of the Consumer Price Index.

The quarterly statistics on rents were last reviewed in 2019.

The publication of the statistics preceding the present quarterly statistics ended with the last quarter of 2025.

For comparability reasons, the average rents and index for 2025 were calculated retrospectively with the revised method.

Students were transferred from the general housing allowance scheme to the student housing supplement scheme in August 2025. The impact of the change has been removed with statistical methods. In the time series of rents, the data change may locally appear as deviating behaviour of the index in the period concerned.

When these statistics are compared with data from other producers, the source of the basic data should be considered. The data of the quarterly statistics on rents are based on the Social Insurance Institution's register of housing allowances and on the data on rental housing companies included in the data collection. Therefore the statistics include quite a comprehensive sample of the rental dwelling stock in the whole country.

Eurostat publishes rent data on Finland based on the data of the Consumer Price Index. 

The method of the rent index is updated in connection with index revisions and methodological revisions may cause breaks in the time series. In place of the rent index, it is more recommended to use the cost-of-living index for tenancy agreements. The benefit of using the cost-of-living index in agreements is that the data series continues unbroken also when breaks occur in the series of the rent index or the Consumer Price Index in connection with index revisions.

The monthly, quarterly, and annual data of the Rents of Dwellings statistics are produced in the same way, and are therefore fully consistent.

The data from the Rents of Dwellings statistics are used as source material for the national accounts.

The data for the statistics on rents of dwellings are internally uniform.

Statistics Finland publishes new statistical data at 8 am on weekdays in its web service. The release times of statistics are given in advance in the release calendar available in the web service. The data become public after they have been updated in the web service.

Further information: Publication principles for statistics at Statistics Finland

Statistics Finland's release calendar Future publications

Future publications of the statistics can be found on the page of the statistics at: Future publications of the statistics

The data are released to all users at the same time. Statistical data may be processed at Statistics Finland and information on them may be given before release only by persons involved in the production of the statistics concerned or who need the data of the statistics concerned in their own work before the data are published.

Further information: Publication principles for statistics

Unless otherwise specifically stated in connection with the product, data or service concerned, Statistics Finland is the producer and copyright owner of the data. The terms of use for statistical data.

The data of the statistics are published quarterly on Statistics Finland's website.

The release is published quarterly on the home page of the statistics.

The database tables of the statistics can be found in the StatFin database.

The framework for the rental dwelling stock used in the calculation of the statistics on rents is based on the built environment information system Ryhti of the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke). All permanently occupied dwellings in blocks of flats and terraced houses that are not institutional dwellings (student dormitories, sheltered accommodation and old people’s homes) and that tenants occupy based on a rental agreement are extracted from the data.

Government‑subsidised dwellings are first identified, after which the remaining non‑subsidised rental dwellings are classified into those owned by companies and those owned by private individuals. The buildings’ owner data, the Tax Administration's register of owner-occupied dwellings and data on dwellings freed from restrictions related to government-subsidised rental dwellings were used in the deduction. Company‑owned dwellings are defined on the basis of ownership information relating to both the dwelling and the building. Privately owned dwellings are defined as dwellings owned by private individuals who do not reside in the dwellings themselves, and dwellings whose owner is not a company and which the tenant has reported as a rental dwelling with a change of address notification.

Rent levels for government-subsidised rental dwellings are deduced based on the rents paid by housing allowance recipients obtained from the housing allowance register of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. Rent levels for dwellings owned by private individuals are derived from the housing allowance register data and from the asking rent data obtained from the rental listing service. A dwelling occupied by a housing allowance recipient is linked to the framework of the rental dwelling stock by means of the building and dwelling identifier, and dwellings defined as government-subsidised or privately owned are included in the statistics. For company‑owned dwellings, rent data derive from the largest rental housing companies.

The data protection of data collected for statistical purposes is guaranteed. The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. Alongside the Statistics Act, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and the Finnish Data Protection Act are applied to the processing of personal data. Provisions on the confidentiality of data collected for statistical purposes are laid down in the Act on the Openness of Government Activities.

The data are processed only by persons who need the data in their work. The use of data is restricted by usage rights. All persons employed by Statistics Finland have signed a pledge of secrecy, where they have obliged to keep secret the data prescribed as confidential by virtue of the Statistics Act or the Act on the Openness of Government Activities.

Further information: Data protection | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)

To ensure the reliability of the statistics, data are not published in categories with under 20 observations.