Discussion event: Future of research datasets

Director General Mari Ylä-Jarkko reported on Statistics Finland’s increasingly tight financial situation and the resulting pressures. Statistics Finland’s operating appropriations will decrease significantly, and staff numbers will be reduced, at the same time as new statistical requirements are being introduced by the EU. For this reason, Statistics Finland must critically assess all statistics that are not linked to EU statistical legislation. Statistics may be scaled down, suspended, or discontinued altogether.

Statistics are closely connected to research data, as data received for statistical purposes form the basis for ready-made datasets and customised datasets. Several statistics widely used in research are now under threat of suspension, discontinuation and/or downsizing, including the business subsidies statistics (FIRM_SUBSID), bankruptcies and corporate restructurings (FIRM_BANKR), education statistics (EDUC), and crime and justice statistics (available for research use as customised datasets).

Statistics Finland is able to receive data for research use even if the data are not needed for statistical production. However, funding issues remain and may have implications for researcher services unless separate funding is secured. A request for statements has been opened in the statement service, and users of the statistical datasets under threat of discontinuation are invited to submit their views. The request for statements is open from 13 April to 25 May 2026.

Senior statistician Olli Kajava reported on the reforms to the pseudonymisation of research data at Statistics Finland. The change of pseudonymous identifiers has been extended to cover personal identifiers this year, and other identifiers earlier. Research Services centrally re-protect the identifiers of updating ready-made datasets. The majority of ready-made datasets have already been re-protected, but work is still ongoing for some of them. Up-to-date information on the status of the pseudonymous identifier changes for ready-made datasets is available on the Research Services website.

Some challenges have arisen in the replacement of pseudonymous identifiers, particularly related to encryption keys for less common identifiers. Researchers can contact Research Services by e‑mail regarding any difficulties they encounter. The adequacy of storage space has proven problematic for large datasets. Statistics Finland will provide free additional storage space for the purposes of replacing pseudonymous identifiers in the autumn. The aim is to make the additional storage available to researchers during the summer, and further information will be provided as soon as the schedule is confirmed.

Director General Ville Vertanen reported that, in line with a policy decision made by the Ministerial Committee on Economic Policy, chargeable activities of government agencies must be made fully cost-recovering. The financial situation of Research Services is also affected by rising costs of purchased services, such as the FIONA remote access system, as well as increases in overhead costs. The prices of Research Services will most likely need to be increased for 2027 considerably more than they were increased for the current year.

If demand for Research Services remains at the current level, prices would need to be increased by 46% in order to achieve cost recovery by the end of 2027. In addition, efforts will be made to further streamline Research Services operations in order to minimise price increases for researchers. Pricing for 2027 will be decided towards the end of the year, in November–December.