Population by continent of origin (2023)^[1]^[207]

Finland (89.8%)

Rest of Europe (5.1%)

Asia (3.3%)

Africa (1.3%)

Others (0.5%)

The population of Finland is currently about 5.6 million. The current birth rate is 7.8 per 1,000 residents, for a fertility rate of 1.26 children born per woman,^[208] one of the lowest in the world, significantly below the replacement rate of 2.1. In 1887 Finland recorded its highest rate, 5.17 children born per woman.^[209] Finland has one of the oldest populations in the world, with a median age of 42.6 years.^[210] Approximately half of voters are estimated to be over 50 years old.^[211]^[85]^[212]^[213] Finland has an average population density of 18 inhabitants per square kilometre. This is the third-lowest population density of any European country, behind those of Norway and Iceland, and the lowest population density of any European Union member country. Finland's population has always been concentrated in the southern parts of the country, a phenomenon that became even more pronounced during 20th-century urbanization. Three of the four largest cities in Finland are situated in the Helsinki metropolitan area —Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa.^[214] In the largest cities of Finland, Tampere holds the third place after Helsinki and Espoo while also Helsinki-neighbouring Vantaa is the fourth. Other cities with population over 100,000 are Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Kuopio, and Lahti.

Finland's immigrant population is growing.^[215] As of 2023^[update], there were 571,268 people with a foreign background living in Finland (10.2% of the population), most of whom are from the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Sweden, Iraq, China and India.^[1] The children of foreigners are not automatically given Finnish citizenship, as Finnish nationality law practices and maintain jus sanguinis policy where only children born to at least one Finnish parent are granted citizenship. If they are born in Finland and cannot get citizenship of any other country, they become citizens.^[216] Additionally, certain persons of Finnish descent who reside in countries that were once part of Soviet Union, retain the right of return, a right to establish permanent residency in the country, which would eventually entitle them to qualify for citizenship.^[217] As of 2023^[update], 535,451 people in Finland were born in another country, representing 9,6 % of the population. The 10 largest foreign born groups are (in order) from Estonia, Sweden, Iraq, Russia, China, Ukraine, India, Somalia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Turkey.^[218]

Finland's national minorities include the Sami, Romani people, the Jews and the Tatars. Romani people of the Finnish Kale group settled in the country at the end of the sixteenth century.^[219]

Language

Finnish and Swedish are the official languages of Finland. Finnish predominates nationwide while Swedish is spoken in some coastal areas in the west and south (with towns such as Ekenäs,^[220] Pargas,^[221] Närpes,^[221] Kristinestad,^[222] Jakobstad^[223] and Nykarleby.^[224]) and in the autonomous region of Åland, which is the only monolingual Swedish-speaking region in Finland.^[225] As of 2023^[update], the native language of 84.9% of the population was Finnish,^[1] which is part of the Finnic subgroup of the Uralic language. The language is one of only four official EU languages not of Indo-European origin, and has no relation through descent to the other national languages of the Nordics. Conversely, Finnish is closely related to Estonian and Karelian, and more distantly to Hungarian and the Sami languages.

Swedish is the native language of 5.1% of the population (Swedish-speaking Finns).^[1] Swedish is a compulsory school subject and general knowledge of the language is good among many non-native speakers.^[226] Likewise, a majority of Swedish-speaking non-Ålanders can speak Finnish.^[227] The Finnish side of the land border with Sweden is unilingually Finnish-speaking. The Swedish across the border is distinct from the Swedish spoken in Finland. There is a sizeable pronunciation difference between the varieties of Swedish spoken in the two countries, although their mutual intelligibility is nearly universal.^[228]

Finnish Romani is spoken by some 5,000–6,000 people; there are 13,000-14,000 Romani people in Finland^[229] Romani and Finnish Sign Language are also recognized in the constitution. There are two sign languages: Finnish Sign Language, spoken natively by 4,000–5,000 people,^[230] and Finland-Swedish Sign Language, spoken natively by about 150 people. Tatar is spoken by a Finnish Tatar minority of about 800 people whose ancestors moved to Finland mainly between the 1870s and 1920s.^[231]

The Sámi languages have an official status in parts of Lapland, where the Sámi, numbering over 10,000^[232] are recognized as an indigenous people. About a quarter of them speak a Sami language as their mother tongue.^[233] The Sami languages that are spoken in Finland are Northern Sami, Inari Sami, and Skolt Sami.^{[note 4]} The rights of minority groups (in particular Sami, Swedish speakers, and Romani people) are protected by the constitution.^[234] The Nordic languages and Karelian are also specially recognized in parts of Finland.

As of 2023^[update], the most common foreign languages are Russian (1.8%), Estonian (0.9%), Arabic (0.7%), English (0.6%) and Ukrainian (0.5%).^[1]

English is studied by most pupils as a compulsory subject from the first grade (at seven years of age), formerly from the third or fifth grade, in the comprehensive school (in some schools other languages can be chosen instead).^[235]^[236]^[237]^[238] German, French, Spanish and Russian can be studied as second foreign languages from the fourth grade (at 10 years of age; some schools may offer other options).^[239]

Largest cities

More information Largest cities or towns in Finland"Population increased most in Uusimaa in 2023". Statistics Finland. 31 December 2023., Rank ...

Largest cities or towns in Finland "Population increased most in Uusimaa in 2023". Statistics Finland. 31 December 2023.
Rank	Name	Region	Pop.	Rank	Name	Region	Pop.
1	Helsinki	Uusimaa	681,802	11	Kouvola	Kymenlaakso	78,587
2	Espoo	Uusimaa	318,507	12	Joensuu	North Karelia	78,204
3	Tampere	Pirkanmaa	258,770	13	Lappeenranta	South Karelia	73,084
4	Vantaa	Uusimaa	250,073	14	Vaasa	Ostrobothnia	69,542
5	Oulu	North Ostrobothnia	215,530	15	Hämeenlinna	Kanta-Häme	68,296
6	Turku	Southwest Finland	204,618	16	Seinäjoki	South Ostrobothnia	66,474
7	Jyväskylä	Central Finland	148,622	17	Rovaniemi	Lapland	65,321
8	Kuopio	North Savo	124,825	18	Mikkeli	South Savo	51,965
9	Lahti	Päijät-Häme	121,202	19	Porvoo	Uusimaa	51,621
10	Pori	Satakunta	83,334	20	Salo	Southwest Finland	50,912

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Religion

Registered members of religions groups in Finland by the Statistics Finland (2023)^[1]

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (63.6%)

Orthodox Church (1.1%)

Other Christian (0.9%)

Other religions (0.8%)

Unaffiliated (33.6%)

With 3.5 million members,^[240] the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is Finland's largest religious body; at the end of 2023, 63.6% of Finns were members of the church.^[1] The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland has seen its share of the country's population declining by roughly one percent annually in recent years. The decline has been due to both church membership resignations and falling baptism rates.^[241]^[242] The second largest group, accounting for 26.3% of the population^[243] in 2017, has no religious affiliation. A small minority belongs to the Finnish Orthodox Church (1.1%). Other Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church are significantly smaller, as are the Jewish and other non-Christian communities (totalling 1.6%). The Pew Research Center estimated the Muslim population at 2.7% in 2016.^[244]

Finland's state church was the Church of Sweden until 1809. As an autonomous Grand Duchy under Russia from 1809 to 1917, Finland retained the Lutheran State Church system, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland was established. After Finland had gained independence in 1917, religious freedom was declared in the constitution of 1919, and a separate law on religious freedom in 1922. Through this arrangement, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland gained a constitutional status as a national church alongside the Finnish Orthodox Church, whose position however is not codified in the constitution. The main Lutheran and Orthodox churches have special roles such as in state ceremonies and schools.^[245]

In 2016, 69.3% of Finnish children were baptized^[246] and 82.3% were confirmed in 2012 at the age of 15,^[247] and over 90% of the funerals are Christian. However, the majority of Lutherans attend church only for special occasions like Christmas ceremonies, weddings, and funerals. The Lutheran Church estimates that approximately 1.8% of its members attend church services weekly.^[248] The average number of church visits per year by church members is approximately two.^[249]

According to a 2010 Eurobarometer poll, 33% of Finnish citizens responded that they "believe there is a God"; 42% answered that they "believe there is some sort of spirit or life force"; and 22% that they "do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force".^[250] According to ISSP survey data (2008), 8% consider themselves "highly religious", and 31% "moderately religious". In the same survey, 28% reported themselves as "agnostic" and 29% as "non-religious".^[251]

Health

Thumb — A man donating blood at Finnish Red Cross Blood Service [fi]

Life expectancy was 79 years for men and 84 years for women in 2017.^[252] The under-five mortality rate was 2.3 per 1,000 live births in 2017, ranking Finland's rate among the lowest in the world.^[253] The fertility rate in 2014 stood at 1.71 children born/per woman and has been below the replacement rate of 2.1 since 1969.^[254] With a low birth rate women also become mothers at a later age, the mean age at first live birth being 28.6 in 2014.^[254] A 2011 study published in The Lancet medical journal found that Finland had the lowest stillbirth rate out of 193 countries.^[255]

There has been a slight increase or no change in welfare and health inequalities between population groups in the 21st century. Lifestyle-related diseases are on the rise. More than half a million Finns suffer from diabetes, type 1 diabetes being globally the most common in Finland. Many children are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. The number of musculoskeletal diseases and cancers are increasing, although the cancer prognosis has improved. Allergies and dementia are also growing health problems in Finland. One of the most common reasons for work disability are due to mental disorders, in particular depression.^[256] Without age standardization, the suicide rates were 13 per 100 000 in 2015, close to the North European average.^[257] Age-standardized suicide rates are still among the highest among developed countries in the OECD.^[258]

There are 307 residents for each doctor.^[259] About 19% of health care is funded directly by households and 77% by taxation.

In April 2012, Finland was ranked second in Gross National Happiness in a report published by The Earth Institute.^[260] Since 2012, Finland has every time ranked at least in the top 5 of world's happiest countries in the annual World Happiness Report by the United Nations,^[261]^[262]^[263] as well as ranking as the happiest country since 2018.^[264]^[265]

Education and science

Most pre-tertiary education is arranged at the municipal level. Around 3 percent of students are enrolled in private schools (mostly specialist language and international schools).^[267] Formal education is usually started at the age of 7. Primary school takes normally six years and lower secondary school three years.

The curriculum is set by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Education Board. Education is compulsory between the ages of 7 and 18. After lower secondary school, graduates may apply to trade schools or gymnasiums (upper secondary schools). Trade schools offer a vocational education: approximately 40% of an age group choose this path after the lower secondary school.^[268] Academically oriented gymnasiums have higher entrance requirements and specifically prepare for Abitur and tertiary education. Graduation from either formally qualifies for tertiary education.

In tertiary education, two mostly separate and non-interoperating sectors are found: the profession-oriented polytechnics and the research-oriented universities. Education is free and living expenses are to a large extent financed by the government through student benefits. There are 15 universities and 24 Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS) in the country.^[269]^[270] The University of Helsinki is ranked 75th in the Top University Ranking of 2010.^[271] Other reputable universities of Finland include Aalto University in Espoo, both University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University in Turku, University of Jyväskylä, University of Oulu, LUT University in Lappeenranta and Lahti, University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio and Joensuu, and Tampere University.^[272]

The World Economic Forum ranks Finland's tertiary education No. 1 in the world.^[273] Around 33% of residents have a tertiary degree, similar to Nordics and more than in most other OECD countries except Canada (44%), United States (38%) and Japan (37%).^[274] In addition, 38% of Finland's population has a university or college degree, which is among the highest percentages in the world.^[275]^[276] Adult education appears in several forms, such as secondary evening schools, civic and workers' institutes, study centres, vocational course centres, and folk high schools.^[149]

More than 30% of tertiary graduates are in science-related fields. Forest improvement, materials research, environmental sciences, neural networks, low-temperature physics, brain research, biotechnology, genetic technology, and communications showcase fields of study where Finnish researchers have had a significant impact.^[277] Finland is highly productive in scientific research. In 2005, Finland had the fourth most scientific publications per capita of the OECD countries.^[278] In 2007, 1,801 patents were filed in Finland.^[279]