Altogether 41.4 per cent of those elected in the Municipal elections 2025 are new councillors

Background analysis of elected councillors in Municipal elections 2025

The release is based on the legally valid voting register and Statistics Finland's statistical data, such as population and employment statistics and the Register of Completed Education and Degrees. Thus, the data may differ slightly from the background analysis of the candidates published on 2 April 2025, for which the legal version of the voting register and the population data for 2024 were not yet available.

A total of 58.6 per cent of elected councillors were current councillors

Altogether 5,032, or 58.6 per cent, of the elected were municipal councillors in the previous term as well. In relative terms, the Finns Party (77.1%) and the Swedish People's Party (65.0%) have most re-elected councillors. In relative terms, the lowest number of current municipal councillors were elected from the Green League (52.2%). Among the elected councillors, the Centre Party has most current councillors (1,476 councillors) and the Movement Now has least (10 councillors). In the Municipal elections, 161 current MPs and 913 current county councillors were elected to municipal councils.

Women's proportion of elected councillors grew

Altogether 3,863 women were elected in the Municipal elections, which is 45.0 per cent of all elected councillors. Women's proportion of the elected in the Municipal elections 2025 is 4.8 percentage points higher than in 2021. Women's proportion of candidates was 42.3 per cent, which grew by 2.6 percentage points from the 2021 elections. Women make up 50.8 per cent of persons entitled to vote.

Of the Green League's elected councillors, 79.2 per cent are women. Among the parliamentary parties, women are also in the majority among the elected councillors of the Left Alliance (57.5%) and the Social Democratic Party (53.6%), while the proportions of women are lowest among the Finns Party (26.0%) and the Movement Now (31.6%). Women's proportion of the elected is 39.5 per cent in constituency associations.

The proportion of women among elected councillors grew most in the Left Alliance (by 9.6 percentage points) and decreased most in the Movement Now (by 5.2 percentage points). In nearly all parliamentary parties, the proportion of women among the elected councillors grew. In relative terms, the highest proportion of women was elected in the constituencies of Helsinki (63.5%) and Uusimaa (52.4%). In relative terms, the lowest proportion of women was elected in the constituencies of Vaasa (38.6%), Oulu (42.0%), Central Finland (42.7%) and Satakunta (42.7%).

Oldest councillors in the Movement Now, youngest in the Green League

The average age of all councillors elected in the Municipal elections 2025 is 51.2 years. The average age of the Municipal election candidates is 50.7 years and that of persons entitled to vote 51.3 years. The average age of elected men is 53.1 years and that of women 48.9 years. Elected women are, on average, 3.7 years younger than women entitled to vote, whereas elected men are 3.0 years older than men entitled to vote.

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Of the elected councillors, the Green League candidates are younger than average (average age 43.3 years), while the highest average age (56.6 years) of the parliamentary parties is found in the Movement Now. Of all elected in the Municipal elections, 5.1 per cent are aged under 30 and 27.7 per cent are aged over 60. Among persons entitled to vote, 16.5 per cent are aged under 30 and 35.6 per cent over 60. The proportion of male councillors aged over 65 is 24.0 per cent, which is lower than that of the same group among persons entitled to vote (26.5%). The proportion of elected councillors is higher for women aged 35 to 64 and for men in the 40 to 64 age group than for persons entitled to vote.

Elected councillors more highly educated than those entitled to vote

Persons elected to municipal councils are more highly educated than those entitled to vote and the candidates. Of persons entitled to vote, 12.8 per cent have at least Master's degrees, while this is so for 23.4 per cent of the candidates and for 28.1 per cent of the elected councillors. Of the elected councillors, 5.2 per cent do not have post-comprehensive level qualifications, while this is so for 8.4 per cent of the candidates and for 22.4 per cent of persons entitled to vote.

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Fewer foreign-language speakers among the elected

Of all councillors elected in the 2025 Municipal elections, 92.2 per cent are Finnish or Sami speakers, 6.8 per cent Swedish speakers and 1.0 per cent foreign-language speakers. Of persons entitled to vote, 4.5 per cent are Swedish speakers and 8.7 per cent foreign-language speakers. Swedish speakers account for 5.6 per cent of the candidates and foreign-language speakers for 2.8 per cent.

Majority of elected councillors in working life

Of the elected councillors, 84.5 per cent are employed, which is more than the proportion of employed among persons entitled to vote (52.5%) or candidates (74.8%). Of the elected councillors, 10.8 per cent are pensioners, while the proportion of pensioners among persons entitled to vote is 30.2 per cent. Of the elected councillors. 2.4 per cent are unemployed, while this is so for 6.3 per cent of persons entitled to vote. The proportion of students is also smaller among elected councillors than among persons entitled to vote.

Income level of elected councillors 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 per year. The median for the disposable income of the elected councillors is EUR 38,500. Elected councillors have around 1.5 times more money at their disposal than persons entitled to vote. Elected councillors are more highly educated and they are more often in working life, which partly explains their higher income level.

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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, 20.3 per cent belong to the highest income decile. Of the elected councillors, 32.1 per cent belong to the highest income decile and this is so for 24.1 per cent of new councillors.