Statistics Finland

 Population, Justice Statistics and Equity

 PL 4B, 00022 Tilastokeskus

Total usual resident population for the purposes of qualified majority voting in the Council.

Not applicable.

Total usual resident population at national level.

The population number describes the population resident in Finland on the last day of the year (31 Dec)

Population includes those Finnish citizens and foreigners living permanently in Finland and those persons who
intend to stay in Finland 12 months or longer.

Main source of data is database of Population Information System which is maintained by the
Digital and Population Data Services Agency, DVV, (former Population register centre) and the
State department of Åland. This database is used to produce statistical data that match the usual resident population.

The statistics do not include persons temporarily staying in Finland (less than 12 months) or asylum seekers,
who have only a temporary residence permit or whose application for a residence permit is still under process.
An asylum-seeker is not granted a legal domicile and included in the population until his or her application has been approved.
Moreover the statistics does not include some of the non-EEA citizens who have stayed in Finland at least 12 months,
but who have not got renewed their residence permit for next 12 months and for that reason don't have place of
domicile in Finland. Unregistered EU/EEA citizens and non-EU migrants illegally staying in the country are not
counted in resident population.

The staff of foreign embassies, trade missions and consulates, their family members and personal employees included,
are not counted among the resident population unless they are Finnish citizens.
On the other hand, the Finnish staff of Finland's embassies and trade missions abroad and persons serving in
the UN peacekeeping forces are counted among the resident population.

Total population = population (mentioned above) + estimated undercoverage - estimated overcoverage

Estimated undercoverage:
An estimated number of undercoverage is added to the population number produced from above-mentioned statistical data.
The estimation is based on four groups.
Firstly, the estimated undercoverage consists of asylym seekers whose application for a residence permit is still
under process or who have received a negative decision but who have stayed in Finland at least 12 months.
This number is estimated from the database containing data on applications of asylym seekers and asylum desicions.
The database is governed by the Finnish Immigration Service. The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri),
subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior, is the agency that processes and decides on matters related to immigration,
residence, refugee issues, and Finnish nationality.

Secondly, estimates are of those EU-citizens and citizens of Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Iceland that have
immigrated to Finland but have not received a domicile. This number of undercoverage is deducted from Statistics
Finland’s data on migration and from Finnish Immigration Service’s data on registered EU citizens.
Also the data on persons temporary living in Finland is used here.

Thirdly, those non-EEA citizens who have stayed in Finland at least 12 months and do not have domicile in Finland,
are estimated from the data on persons temporary living in Finland. Data source is the Digital and Population
Data Services Agency.

Fourthly, unregistered non-EU migrants illegally staying in the country at least 12 months are estimated by the
Finnish Immigration Service (Migri).

Estimated overcoverage:
The estimate of overcoverage is subtracted from the population number produced from above-mentioned statistical data.
The estimate of overcoverage is based on thorough analysis on signs of life (income, employment, student data,
register of completed education and degrees, pension data, database of tax authority).
This estimation is also compared to the estimations of overcoverage produced by Statistics Finland while
conducting 1) a survey on work and well-being among persons of foreign origin and 2) a reliability study conducted
for the Digital and Population Services Agency as a part of labour force survey. These studies show very similar results.

Person.

Not applicable.

Data are available at national level of geographical detail.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Person.

The reference date for population data is the end of the reference period (midnight of 31 December).

See metadata DEMOMIGR_BALESMS_A_FI_(reference year)

See metadata DEMOMIGR_BALESMS_A_FI_(reference year)

See metadata DEMOMIGR_BALESMS_A_FI_(reference year)

523/1999 Personal Data Act

23.4.2004/280 Statistics act

21.5.1999/621 Act on the Openness of Government Activities

See metadata DEMOMIGR_BALESMS_A_FI_(reference year)

Not applicable.

Internet address to population statistics only https://www.stat.fi/en/topic/population-and-society, https://stat.fi/en/future-releases?topic=vae&statistic=all&pubType=all&pubTime=all&pubLanguage=en

Internet address to pdf about releasing policy, chapter 4.2, starting from p. 122 http://tilastokeskus.fi/meta/qg_2ed_en.pdf

Annual

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Finland uses option B.

Finland is using estimation methods to produce total population number.

Population (national concept):

Place of residence refers to the location of the dwelling in which the person was registered on the last day of the year. The present Municipality of Residence Act gives people greater freedom of choice over the locality where they wish to be registered as permanently resident. For example, students may register in the locality where they are studying. Homeless people are also counted in the permanently resident population.

As well as a permanent place of residence, a person may have a temporary place of residence in a dwelling that this person says he or she occupies temporarily for at least three months. Statistics are compiled only on the basis of permanent places of residence. Data on the place of residence derive from the Population Information System maintained by  the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, DVV, (former PopulationPopulation Register Centre) and the State department of Åland.

Population includes those Finnish citizens and foreigners living permanently in Finland and those persons who intend to stay in Finland 12 months or longer.

Foreign nationals are domiciled in Finland if their stay is intended to last or has lasted at least one year. The statistics do not include persons temporarily staying in Finland or asylum seekers, who have only a temporary residence permit or whose application for a residence permit is still under processing. An asylum-seeker is not granted a legal domicile and included in the statistics until his or her application has been approved.

The staff of foreign embassies, trade missions and consulates, their family members and personal employees included, are not counted among the resident population unless they are Finnish citizens. On the other hand, the Finnish staff of Finland's embassies and trade missions abroad and persons serving in the UN peacekeeping forces are counted among the resident population.

A Finnish citizen having entered the country must notify the DVV if his/her intended stay in the country exceeds three months. The DVV will update his/her data in the Population Information System (Act 661/2009). A foreign citizen may enter Finland provided he/she holds a required valid visa, residence permit or residence permit for an employed or self-employed person, unless he/she is an EU or EEA citizen or unless otherwise provided by an international agreement binding Finland (Aliens Act 301/2004). An EU or EEA citizen may stay in the country without a separate permit for three months, after which his/her stay in the country requires justifications and registration with the register office. The register office enters the reported information about the domicile of a foreign citizen into the Population Information System if the person receives a municipality of domicile and a permanent place of residence in it in Finland as defined in the Act on the Municipality of Domicile (201/1994).

In statistics on population changes, a person's move into Finland from elsewhere is regarded as immigration only if a notation has been made into the Population Information System that he/she has received a permanent place of residence in Finland (at least 12 months).

Persons emigrating from the country must submit a notice of change of address in the same way as persons who migrate within the country (Acts 661/2009, 201/1994). Persons who move to live abroad for more than one year are primarily regarded as emigrants. An exception to this are Finnish diplomats and persons working in development co-operation, etc. (Act on the Municipality of Domicile 201/1994).

When a person moves from one Nordic country to Finland, he/she must report his/her move to the local register authority, which will decide on the bases of the mover's report whether or not the person is registered as resident in the country. When he/she reports of the move, at the same time he/she tells if the move is permanent or temporary. The move is permanent if it will last 12 months or more (Act on the Municipality of Domicile 201/1994, Decree and Treaty 96/2006).

In May 2020, the Digital and Population Data Services Agency changed the municipality of residence into unknown for around 10,000 persons. These were persons whose location had been unspecified for at least two years and who have had no known place of residence since 1 January 2017.

When compiling the official population, Statistics Finland has made removals to the population with a municipality of residence from the data of the Population Information System since 2010. A total of 15,555 persons who have probably moved abroad were removed after analyses from the population data derived from the Population Information System for the end of 2019.

In 2021, altogether 11,163 persons were removed from the population with a municipality of residence when compiling the official population. The number is lower than in the previous years due to a correction made to the household-dwelling population by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency in May 2020. The removed persons are mainly foreign citizens whose address was unknown and who have not received earned income, capital income, entrepreneurial income, unemployment benefit, pension income, income support or compensation from sickness insurance between 2019 and 2020. They do not have earned income recordings in the Incomes Register for 2021 either.

In 2022, altogether 13,717 persons were removed from the population with a municipality of residence when compiling the official population. The removed persons are mainly foreign citizens whose address was unknown and who have not received earned income, capital income, entrepreneurial income, unemployment benefit, pension income, income support or compensation from sickness insurance between 2020 and 2021. They do not have earned income recordings in the Incomes Register for 2022 either.

Main source of data is database of Population Information System, which is maintained by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (former Population register centre) and the State department of Åland. This database is used to produce statistical data that match the usual resident population.

The statistics do not include persons temporarily staying in Finland (<1 year) or asylum seekers, who have only a temporary residence permit or whose application for a residence permit is still under process. An asylum-seeker is not granted a legal domicile and included in the population until his or her application has been approved. Moreover the statistics does not include some of the non-EEA citizens who have stayed in Finland at least 12 months, but who have not got renewed their residence permit for next 12 months and for that reason don't have place of domicile in Finland. Unregistered EU/EEA citizens and non-EU migrants illegally staying in the country are not counted in resident population.

The staff of foreign embassies, trade missions and consulates, their family members and personal employees included, are not counted among the resident population unless they are Finnish citizens. On the other hand, the Finnish staff of Finland's embassies and trade missions abroad and persons serving in the UN peacekeeping forces are counted among the resident population.

Total population = statistical data from population information system (national concept) + estimated undercoverage - estimated overcoverage

Groups of undercoverage and overcoverage are firstly estimated by deducting both minimum and maximum numbers of the groups. Thereafter, the likelihood of these numbers are revalued in order to reach similar standards in estimating both the undercoverage and the overcoverage.

Estimated undercoverage:

An estimated number of undercoverage is added to the population number produced from above-mentioned statistical data. The estimation is based on three groups.

Firstly, the estimated undercoverage consists of asylym seekers whose application for a residence permit is still under process but who have stayed in Finland at least 12 months. This number is estimated from the database containing data on applications of asylum seekers and asylum decisions.  Those whose residence permit is still under process include also rejected asylum seekers who have appealed against the refusal or are still reception service clients. Persons seeking asylum during the reference year are not included in the original population data unless they have been granted asylum and a domicile in Finland. The percentage of asylums (or resident permits) granted after the residence year is used to estimate the proportion of asylum seekers receiving affirmative decision to stay in Finland. The database is governed by the Finnish Immigration Service. The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri), subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior, is the agency that processes and decides on matters related to immigration, residence, refugee issues, and Finnish nationality.

Secondly, estimates are of those EU-citizens and citizens of Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Iceland that have immigrated to Finland but have not received a domicile and are thereby not (yet) included in the population data. This number of undercoverage is deducted by comparing the Statistics Finland’s data on migration from the countries in questiona and the data from Finnish Immigration Service on registered EU citizens. This shows that a small proportion is missing from the population register’s migration data. Also the data on persons with temporary residence in Finland is used here. Data source is the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. 

Thirdly, those non-EEA citizens who have stayed in Finland at least 12 months and do not have domicile in Finland, are estimated from the data on persons with temporary residence in Finland. Data source is the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. 

Fourthly, unregistered non-EU migrants illegally staying in the country at least 12 months are estimated by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri).

Unregistered EU/EEA citizens illegally staying in the country are not counted in resident population.

Estimated overcoverage:

The estimate of overcoverage is subtracted from the population number produced from above-mentioned statistical data. The estimate of overcoverage is based on thorough analysis on signs of life (income, employment, student data, register of completed education and degrees, pension data, database of tax authority).

This estimation is also compared to the estimations of overcoverage produced by Statistics Finland while conducting a survey on work and well-being among persons of foreign origin. Compared to the previously described “signs of life” estimations of overcoverage, this survey shows very similar overcoverage of people with foreign background.

Population (national concept) in 2022 (Pop): 5 563 970

Estimated undercoverage in 2022 (eUC): 52 300

Estimated overcoverage in 2022 (eOC):   23 200

Total population in 2022: Pop + (eUC - eOC) = 5 593 070

[1] Please indicate type of the measuring procedure only, e.g. count, compilation, adjustment, estimation.

[2] 'Regularly' means more than twice each month (such as twice a week, weekly, etc.)

http://tilastokeskus.fi/til/vaerak/laa_en.html

Statistical programmes used to produce statistics: SAS, MS SQL Server.

Data is cross-checked for:

• duplicate records
• logical inconsistencies (e.g. age vs. marital status, age vs. biological children, ...)
• classifications are checked automatically ( e.g. citizenship, country of birth, mother tongue)
• population data is compared to other data sources in order to find persons without signs of life (taxation register, income register, social benefits data).

In May 2020, the Digital and Population Data Services Agency changed the municipality of residence into unknown for around 10,000 persons. These were persons whose location had been unspecified for at least two years and who have had no known place of residence since 1 January 2017.

When compiling the official population, Statistics Finland has made removals to the population with a municipality of residence from the data of the Population Information System since 2010. A total of 15,555 persons who have probably moved abroad were removed after analyses from the population data derived from the Population Information System for the end of 2019.

In 2021, altogether 11,163 persons were removed from the population with a municipality of residence when compiling the official population. The number is lower than in the previous years due to a correction made to the household-dwelling population by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency in May 2020. The removed persons are mainly foreign citizens whose address was unknown and who have not received earned income, capital income, entrepreneurial income, unemployment benefit, pension income, income support or compensation from sickness insurance between 2019 and 2020. They do not have earned income recordings in the Incomes Register for 2021 either.

In 2022, altogether 13,717 persons were removed from the population with a municipality of residence when compiling the official population. The removed persons are mainly foreign citizens whose address was unknown and who have not received earned income, capital income, entrepreneurial income, unemployment benefit, pension income, income support or compensation from sickness insurance between 2020 and 2021. They do not have earned income recordings in the Incomes Register for 2022 either.

Data requested in Art. 4.1 of Reg. 1260/2013.

Not applicable.

Data transmitted as requested in Art. 4.1 of Reg. 1260/2013.

The Population Information System which is maintained by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV) and the State department of Åland can be considered very exhaustive as regards persons. In order to obtain a personal identity code, a person has to be registered in the Population Information System. It is practically impossible to live in Finland without a personal identity code. A personal identity code is needed to work legally, to open a bank account, to have dealings with authorities and so on. Staying in Finland for at least one year is the prerequisite for registering into the population of Finland.

The DVV monitors the accuracy of address data recorded in the Population Information System. For this purpose a special quality survey has been carried out by Statistics Finland since 1998, last time in 2012. The proportion of people with a correct address in the register has always been high, over 98 percent of the respondents. 

Because population information system is also used as the data source for all national elections (munipal, presidential, parlamential), data quality is considered to be very high.

Data quality of the Finnish Immigration Service database has been observed to be very high. The number of illegal immigrants has been estimated to be negligible by the doctors of health organisations of illegal immigrants.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

For the purposes of qualified majority voting in the Council, Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with data on the total population at national level at the reference time, in accordance with Article 2 ( c ), within eight months of the end of the reference year.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

The total usual residence population  transmitted by the national statistical offices to Eurostat in the framework of the Usual Residence Population data collection may differ from those available in National Accounts, Labour Force Survey or in the survey on Income and Living Conditions. The difference is given by the population coverage (see metadata specific to each domain).

The total usual residence population  transmitted by the national statistical offices to Eurostat in the framework of the Usual Residence Population data collection may differ from those available in the rest of the Demographic domain. The difference is given by the population definition (see metadata specific to each domain).

To produce population structure statistics requires around 7 to 8 work months (collecting, prosessing and releasing). There is no burden on respondents as data is totally derived from register.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Digital and Population Data Services Agency (former Population Register Centre)

Finnish Immigration Service

Finnish centre for pensions

Statistics Finland, data on students

Statistics Finland, register of completed education and degrees

Statistics Finland, incomes register

Social insurance institution of Finland

Database of Tax authority

Once a year.

Data on population is ordered from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (former Population Register Centre).

Data on asylum seekers and people with temporary residence permit is ordered from Finnish Immigration Service.

Data on income is ordered from tax administration, social insurance institution of Finland and Finnish centre for pensions. 

Data on students is collected from educational instutions.

Validation of population is done by detailed study of overcoverage and undercoverage. See 11.1.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

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