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Appendix table 1. Knowledge of foreign languages and number of languages known in 2017 (population aged 18 to 64)

  Knows languages Number of known languages (share of the population)   Total
  Yes 1 language 2 language 3 language At least 4 languages Does not know    
  % % % % % % % N
Age                
18–24 97 11 42 26 18 3 100 463 250
25–34 97 13 36 26 22 3 100 699 460
35–44 96 16 31 29 20 4 100 663 695
45–54 92 15 32 27 18 8 100 724 870
55–64 83 18 26 22 17 17 100 739 770
Sex                
Men 90 19 34 23 14 10 100 1 666 069
Women 95 10 32 28 24 5 100 1 624 976
Socio-economic group                
Farmers 95 20 37 31 7 5 100 43 130
Other self-employed persons 93 17 28 26 22 7 100 192 762
Upper-level employees 97 5 25 34 33 3 100 588 589
Lower-level employees 95 12 36 29 19 5 100 732 451
Workers 88 29 36 15 8 12 100 598 489
Students 99 8 40 29 22 1 100 424 077
Pensioners 78 17 25 22 13 22 100 208 261
Other or unknown 90 18 32 23 17 10 100 503 285
Level of education                
Basic level 87 22 36 17 12 13 100 661 392
Upper secondary level 91 19 37 22 13 9 100 1 504 935
Tertiary level 97 5 25 36 32 3 100 1 124 718
Municipality group                
Urban 94 14 31 28 22 6 100 2 331 637
Semi-urban 88 19 37 22 11 12 100 484 587
Rural 88 17 38 21 13 12 100 474 822
All 93 15 33 26 19 7 100 3 291 045
Total 3 047 287 492 984 1 080 238 848 596 625 470 243 758 100 3 291 045

Source: Participation in adult education 2017, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Helena Niemi 029 551 2488, Timo Ruuskanen 029 551 3620, aet.statistics@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

Updated 12.12.2018

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Participation in adult education [e-publication].
ISSN=2489-6926. Language skills 2017, Appendix table 1. Knowledge of foreign languages and number of languages known in 2017 (population aged 18 to 64) . Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 6.12.2025].
Access method: http://stat.fi/til/aku/2017/04/aku_2017_04_2018-12-12_tau_001_en.html