Number of candidates 29,950 in Municipal elections 2025

Of all candidates, around 95.7 per cent were nominated by the parties elected to the present Parliament (National Coalition Party, Finns Party, Finnish Social Democratic Party, Centre Party of Finland, Green League, Left Alliance, Swedish People's Party in Finland, Christian Democrats in Finland, Movement Now). Compared to the 2021 elections, the number of candidates decreased in all parliamentary parties. Of the parties outside the Parliament, the highest number of candidates were nominated by the Liberal Party (121 candidates) and the lowest by the Crystal Party (10 candidates). The number of candidates nominated in the elections by constituency associations is 959.

Nearly one third are candidates in both elections

Candidates can run in both of the elections in 2025. Altogether 68.8 per cent of the candidates were nominated only in the Municipal elections, so 31.2 per cent of the candidates were candidates for both municipal and county councils. There are differences between the parties in the election candidates. The Centre Party has the highest share of candidates nominated only for municipal councils, 80.2 per cent of the candidates. The Christian Democrats have the largest share of Municipal election candidates running in both elections, 56.8 per cent are nominated for both elections.

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Of the candidates nominated in the Municipal elections, 162 are current Members of Parliament, 990 county councillors and 6,367 are current municipal councillors. Eighty-eight of the candidates were currently in all three organs, that is, they are Members of Parliament, and both county and municipal councillors. Three of the candidates are in Parliament and in a county council, 61 in Parliament and in a municipal council. Ten of the candidates in the Municipal elections are only MPs. In absolute numbers among the parliamentary parties, the Coalition Party has the most MPs (42) as candidates and the Movement Now has the least (1 candidate). The Centre Party has the most current municipal councillors (1,677 candidates) and the Movement Now has the least (18 candidates).

Candidates by elected position and party in the Municipal elections 2025

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Women account for 42 per cent of the candidates

A majority of the candidates in the Municipal elections have always been men. Women's proportion of the candidates in the Municipal elections 2025 is 2.6 percentage points higher than in 2021. Of the candidates, 17,272 are men and 12,678 women, so women's proportion of the candidates is 42.3 per cent.

Of the parliamentary party candidates, the proportion of female candidates is smallest for the Finns Party (24.5%) and biggest for the Green League (61.4%). Among all parties, the proportion of female candidates is highest in the Green League and lowest in the Liberal Party (15.7%). In addition to the Green League, the Animal Rights Party has more female than male candidates. Women make up 42.6 per cent of the candidates of all parliamentary parties. Women's proportion of candidates is 40.7 per cent in constituency associations.

The proportion of female candidates grew in nearly all parliamentary parties and decreased in one party. The proportion of women grew most in the Left Alliance (by 4.9 percentage points) and decreased most in the Movement Now (by 0.5 percentage points). Women make up 50.8 per cent of all persons entitled to vote. The biggest differences in women's proportion of candidates and persons entitled to vote are found in the constituencies of Central Finland (11.0 percentage points), Savo-Karelia (9.8 percentage points) and Vaasa (9.3 percentage points). The difference is smallest in the constituencies of Uusimaa (6.0 percentage points) and Pirkanmaa (6.9 percentage points).

Candidates are an average of one year younger than persons entitled to vote

The average age of the candidates is 50.7 years and that of persons entitled to vote 51.4 years. The average age of male candidates is 51.7 years and that of female candidates 49.2 years. Female candidates are, on average, 3.4 years younger than women entitled to vote, whereas male candidates are 1.6 years older than men entitled to vote. Of all candidates, 7.8 per cent are aged under 30 and 27.4 per cent are aged over 60. Among persons entitled to vote, 16.4 per cent are aged under 30 and 35.7 per cent are aged over 60.

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Of parliamentary parties, the average age is highest among the Christian Democrat candidates, 53.6 years, and lowest among the Green League candidates, 45.5 years. Of all parties, the Christian Democrats have the oldest candidates and the Crystal Party the youngest (40.1 years). Among the parliamentary parties, the Christian Democrats have in relative terms the most candidates aged over 60 (36.1%) and the Swedish People's Party (11.3%) and the Green League (11.0%) have the most candidates aged under 30.

The number of both female and male candidates was highest in the age group of those aged 65 or over. Altogether 22.2 per cent of male candidates and 15.1 per cent of female candidates belonged to this age group. However, for both sexes the proportion of the age group among candidates is smaller than among persons entitled to vote. In all, 26.6 per cent of men and 32.1 per cent of women entitled to vote are aged at least 65. The proportion of candidates was higher for women aged 35 to 64 and for men in the 40 to 64 age group than for persons entitled to vote.

Candidates are more highly educated than persons entitled to vote

The educational level of the Municipal election candidates differs from that of persons entitled to vote especially at the ends of the educational distribution. Of the candidates 8.4 per cent do not have a post-comprehensive level qualification, the corresponding share for persons entitled to vote is 22.5 per cent. Of persons entitled to vote, 12.8 per cent have at least a Master's degree, while this is so for 23.4 per cent of the candidates. The educational difference between the candidates and persons entitled to vote is partly explained by the different age structure of the groups.

Persons entitled to vote and candidates by level of education in the Municipal elections 2025

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Green League candidates are the most highly educated, 44.9 per cent of the party's candidates have at least Master's degrees. Over one-half of the Swedish People's Party and Coalition Party candidates also have at least Master's degrees. In relative terms, the Finns Party (8.5%) and the Movement Now (8.7%) have the lowest number of candidates with this level of education. In groups outside the parliamentary parties, 19.2 per cent of the candidates belong to the highest educational group.

Fewer foreign-language speaking candidates

Of persons entitled to vote, 4.5 per cent are Swedish speakers and 8.6 per cent foreign-language speakers. Of all candidates in the 2025 Municipal elections, 91.5 per cent are Finnish or Sami speakers, 5.6 per cent Swedish speakers and 2.8 per cent foreign-language speakers. The Swedish People's Party has the highest share of foreign-language speaking candidates among the parliamentary parties (5.5%) and the Finns Party (1.4%) and the Centre Party (1.9%) the lowest.

Of the candidates, 2.9 per cent are of foreign background and of persons entitled to vote 9.0 per cent. The right to vote in the Municipal elections is determined by domicile, so in relative terms more persons entitled to vote have foreign background than in the Parliamentary elections, for example. Altogether 10.2 per cent of the population living in Mainland Finland were of foreign background in 2023. In relative terms, the Swedish People's Party has the biggest number of candidates of foreign background (6.3%) and the Finns Party has the smallest (1.4%).

Majority of candidates in working life

Of persons entitled to vote, 52.4 per cent are employed, while 74.8 per cent of the candidates are employed. There are slightly more students among persons entitled to vote than among candidates. The share of unemployed candidates is lower than among persons entitled to vote, around 5.5 per cent. Of persons entitled to vote, 30.3 per cent were pensioners but this was so for 14.3 per cent of the candidates. Among the parliamentary parties, the Coalition Party, the Greens and the Swedish People's Party have in relative terms the biggest share of employed candidates, around 80 per cent. The Left Alliance has the lowest share of employed candidates, 65.3 per cent. Among the parliamentary parties, the Left Alliance has the biggest share of pensioner candidates, 18.4 per cent.

Candidates' income level higher than that of persons entitled to vote

The median disposable income of the candidates is about EUR 32,900 and that of persons entitled to vote around EUR 25,400. Among the parties, the candidates of the Coalition Party have the highest median income, around EUR 38,900 and the Left Alliance candidates have the lowest income, around EUR 28,300. The candidates of parties outside the Parliament and constituency associations have a median income of around EUR 30,700.

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When the population entitled to vote is arranged according to income and divided into ten equal parts, the income deciles of the population entitled to vote are generated. Of all candidates, 20.4 per cent belong to the highest income decile. Of the candidates, those representing the National Coalition Party and the Swedish People's Party in Finland belong to the higher end of the income distribution. In the National Coalition Party 23.4 per cent of male candidates and 11.5 per cent of female candidates belong to the highest income decile. The Left Alliance has the lowest share of candidates belonging to the highest income decile (8.4%), of whom 4.8 per cent are male candidates and 3.6 per cent female candidates.