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1. Cultural employment according to the Labour Force Survey

Employment in cultural industries has weakened by around 6.5 per cent from 2011 to 2015. The employment in the industries weakened evenly until 2014. From 2014 to 2015 it, however, improved and the number of employed persons in the industries was nearly 113,600 in 2015.

Employment in advertising decreased until 2014 but improved clearly in 2015. In 2015, the average number of employed persons was around 11,300 which was over eight per cent more than one year earlier.

Of the industries, publishing activities have decreased by over 18 per cent from 2011 to 2015 and in 2015 the industry employed, on average, around 14,000 people. In libraries, archives, museums and operation of historical sites and buildings, the number of employed persons decreased by nearly seven per cent from 2014 and was, on average, around 10,800. The number of employed persons in creative, arts and entertainment activities was around 16,200, which was more than ten per cent fewer than in 2014. (Table 1).

In 2015, around 131,600 persons were working in cultural occupations as their main job. The increase from 2014 was over two per cent. The development in the number of employed persons in certain cultural occupations is shown in Figure 2.

Table 1. Those employed in cultural industries as their main job in 2011 to 2015 according to the Labour Force Survey

TOL2008 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Publishing 17 167 17 238 14 109 12 702 14 045
Advertising 10 431 10 414 9 482 8 856 11 314
Libraries and archives and museums activities and preservation of historical sites and buildings 13 983 13 199 9 947 11 625 10 839
Creative, arts and entertainment activities 19 245 18 659 20 810 18 133 16 205
Other industries 42 151 40 058 37 207 58 994 61 168
Total 121 581 117 867 111 912 110 310 113 571
Source; .Labour Force Survey, Statistics Finland

Defining of cultural industries and occupations is not unambiguous and Finland’s cultural statistics strive to use EU recommendations. The industrial activities and occupations used here are listed in more detail in the Quality Description. The used industrial classification is the Standard Industrial Classification 2008 and the used classification of occupations is the Classification of Occupations 2010.

The Labour Force Survey is a sample survey and it includes some bias caused by the method. Culture consists of fairly small groups by their activities and occupational groups and therefore this survey presents results separately only when the size of the group is around 10,000. Then the standard error for the result is about four per cent.


Source: Cultural statistics 2015, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Kaisa Weckström 029 551 2348, kulttuuri.tilastokeskus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma


Updated 31.8.2016

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Culture [e-publication].
ISSN=2341-7404. Cultural Employment in Finland 2015, 1. Cultural employment according to the Labour Force Survey . Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 16.4.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/klt/2015/01/klt_2015_01_2016-08-31_kat_001_en.html