Updated the 5th of March 2019

Regional gap in GDP per capita, 2000-16 Index of regional disparity in GDP per capita, 2016

The regional gap in GDP per capita in Finland has remained stable over the last sixteen years. Finland has the 2nd smallest regional economic disparities among OECD countries with comparable data, with the capital region having 60% higher GDP than the Eastern and Northern region.

Productivity has grown at a pace 0.6% per year over the period 2000-16, with regional rates of growth ranging from 0.7% per year in Åland to 0.4% per year in the South region.

Since 2013, the youth unemployment rate has become more homogenous across regions, although it is significantly above the OECD average.

Productivity trends, most and least dynamic regions, 2000-16 Youth unemployment rate, 15-24 years old, 2007-17

Source: OECD Regional Database. Notes: (1) Figure on regional gap in GDP per capita: OECD regions refer to the administrative tier of subnational government (large regions, Territorial Level 2); Finland is composed of 5 large regions. (2) Figure on index of regional disparity: top (bottom) 20% regions are defined as those with the highest (lowest) GDP per capita until the equivalent of 20% of national population is reached, this indicator provides a harmonised measure to rank OECD countries, using data for small regions (Territorial Level 3) when available. (3) Productivity is measured as GDP per employee at place of work in constant prices, constant Purchasing Power Parities (reference year 2010).

20 000

25 000

30 000

35 000

40 000

45 000

50 000

55 000

60 000

2000 2005 2010 2016

GDP per capita in USD PPP

Low est region

East and North Finland

Highest region

Helsinki-Uusimaa

31 777 USD

50 675 USD

38 563 USDFinland

1

2

3

4

Top 20 % richest over bottom 20% poorest regionsRatio

Country (number of regions considered)

Small regions(TL3)

Large regions (TL2)

2016 2000

Finland

60 000

65 000

70 000

75 000

80 000

85 000

90 000

95 000

100 000

105 000

2000 2005 2010 2016

GDP per worker in USD PPP

South: lowest productivity growth (+0.4% annually)

Åland: highest productivity growth (+0.7% annually)

Helsinki-Uusimaa: highest productivity in 2016 (+0.6% average annual growth over 2000-16)

OECD

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

2007 2012 2017

rate (% )

Lowest rateHelsinki-Uusimaa

Highest rateWest Finland

18.5%

21.7%

20.1%Finland

Regions and Cities at a Glance 2018 – FINLAND http://www.oecd.org/regional

Economic trends in regions

Updated the 5th of March 2019

Relative ranking of the regions with the best and worst outcomes in the 11 well-being dimensions, with respect to all 402 OECD regions. The eleven dimensions are ordered by decreasing regional disparities in the country. Each well-being dimension is measured by the indicators in the table below.

In five out of the eleven well-being dimensions, at least one Finnish region ranks in the top 20% of the OECD regions. Finland has large regional disparities in civic engagement and jobs. For example, Åland ranks in the top 5% of the OECD regions in terms of jobs outcomes (employment and unemployment rates), while the East and North regions rank in the bottom third of OECD regions.

Åland outperforms the other Finnish regions in five well-being dimensions, although it ranks last in terms of civic engagement, education and health compared to the rest of the country. The top performing Finnish regions fare better than the OECD median region for all the well-being indicators, except for unemployment rate and voter turnout.

Source: OECD Regional Database. Visualisation: https://www.oecdregionalwellbeing.org. Notes: (1) OECD regions refer to the first administrative tier of subnational government (large regions, Territorial Level 2); Finland is composed of 5 large regions. (2) Household income per capita data are based on USD constant PPP, constant prices (year 2010).

Åland

Helsinki-Uusimaa

Åland WestÅland

Åland

Helsinki-Uusimaa

ÅlandHelsinki-Uusimaa

West

All regions

East andNorth

Åland

Helsinki-Uusimaa

ÅlandEast and

North

South

Åland

Helsinki-Uusimaa

South

East andNorth

Jobs CivicEngagement

Housing Education Income Safety Health Environment Access toservices

Community LifeSatisfaction

Top region Bottom region

Ra

nkin

g o

f O

EC

D r

eg

ion

s(1

to 4

02)

top 2

0%

bo

tto

m 2

0%

mid

dle

60%

Helsinki-Uusimaa Regions (Suuralueet)

Top 20% Bottom 20%

Jobs

Employment rate 15 to 64 years old (%), 2017 69.6 67.7 73.2 66.8

Unemployment rate 15 to 64 years old (%), 2017 8.9 5.5 7.8 9.9

Civic engagement

Voters in last national election (%), 2017 or lastest year 66.8 70.9 69.6 64.2

Housing

Rooms per person, 2016 1.9 1.8 1.9 1.8

Education

Labour force w ith at least upper secondary education (%), 2017 88.3 81.7 89.3 87.4

Income

Disposable income per capita (in USD PPP), 2016 18 688 17 695 20 960 17 192

Safety

Homicide Rate (per 100 000 people), 2016 0.4 1.3 0.3 0.6

Health

Life Expectancy at birth (years), 2016 81.5 80.4 82.0 81.0

Age adjusted mortality rate (per 1 000 people), 2016 7.6 8.1 7.4 7.9

Environment

Level of air pollution in PM 2.5 (µg/m³), 2015 6.2 12.4 5.9 7.8

Access to services

Households w ith broadband access (%), 2017 93.0 78.0 98.0 91.0

Community

Perceived social netw ork support (%), 2013 94.2 91.4 94.3 93.8

Life Satisfaction

Life satisfaction (scale from 0 to 10), 2013 7.5 6.8 .. ..

Finish regionsCountry

Average

OECD median

region

Differences in well-being across regions

Updated the 5th of March 2019

OECD population is concentrated in cities* Percentage of population in cities, 2016

Source: OECD Metropolitan Database. Number of cities: 7 in Finland and 1 138 in the OECD.

In Finland, 55% of the population lives in cities of more than 50 000 inhabitants. The share of population in cities with more than 500 000 people is 27% compared to 55% in the OECD area.

Importance of metropolitan areas Cities above 500 000 people, 2016

Contribution of metropolitan areas to GDP growth Cities above 500 000 people, 2000-16

Helsinki metropolitan area accounts for 35% of national GDP and 30% of employment. Between 2000 and 2016, Helsinki generated 45% of the national GDP growth.

In terms of GDP per capita, Helsinki ranks in the top 25% of the 327 OECD Metropolitan areas. Air pollution in Helsinki metropolitan area is among the lowest across the OECD.

OECD Metropolitan areas ranking Cities above 500 000 people

GDP per capita, 2016

Air pollution (PM2.5), 2017

Source: OECD Metropolitan Database. Number of metropolitan areas with a population of over 500 000: 1 in Finland compared to 327 in the OECD. * Note: Cities are defined here as functional urban areas, which are composed by high-density urban centres of at least 50,000 people and their areas of influence (commuting zone). For more information, see: http://www.oecd.org/cfe/regional-policy/functionalurbanareasbycountry.htm.

27%

14%

14%

45%

United States

people in citieswith population above 500 000

peopleoutside cities

United States

people in cities withpopulation between50 000 and 250 000

5.5 million people - 55% live in cities

United StatesFinland

people in cities with population between 250 000 and 500 000

OECD average

1.2 billion people - 70%live in cities

people in citieswith population above 500 000

people in cities withpopulation between50 000 and 250 000

peopleoutside cities

55%

9%

30%

people in cities with populationbetween 250 000 and 500 000

6%

35%30% 27%

63%58% 55%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

% of nationalGDP

% of nationalemployment

% of nationalpopulation

Finland OECD average%

45%

68%

He

lsin

ki

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1 2

%

All metropolitan areas Largest contributor

Finland OECD average

32

7 m

etr

op

olit

an

are

as

0

20 000

40 000

60 000

80 000

100 000USD PPP

Top 20% richest metropolitan areas

Bottom 20% poorest metropolitan areas

0

10

20

30

Lev el of air pollution in PM 2.5 (µg/m³)

Top 20% least polluted metropolitan areas

Bottom 20% most polluted metropolitan areas

Metropolitan areas in the national economy

Updated the 5th of March 2019

Subnational government expenditure by function As a share of total subnational government expenditure, 2016

Subnational government expenditure amounts to USD 9 710 per capita in Finland compared to an OECD average of USD 6 817. In Finland, this is equivalent to 40.2% of total public expenditure and to 22.4% of GDP. In comparison, across the OECD, subnational government expenditure accounts for 40.4% of total public expenditure and for 16.2% of GDP. Social protection and health are the two largest spending items for subnational governments in Finland: together they represent 51% of subnational expenditure compared to 32% in the OECD area.

In Finland, 54.3% of total public investment was carried out by subnational governments compared to an OECD average of 56.9%.

Role of subnational governments in public investment Subnational government public investment per capita, 2016

Source: OECD Subnational Government Structure and Finance Database. Note: The function ‘Other’ includes housing and community amenities, recreation, culture and religion; environment; public order and safety.

OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance 2018

The 2018 edition of OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance shows how regions and cities contribute to national growth and the well-being of societies. It updates its regular set of region-by-region indicators, examining a wide range of policies and trends and identifying those regions that are outperforming or lagging behind in their country.

Consult this publication on line: https://oe.cd/pub/2n9

Other 6% 15% Other

General public services 17% 14% General public services

Economic affairs 7% 14% Economic affairs

Health 25% 18% Health

Education 18% 25% Education

Social protectionSocial protection 26% 14%

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Finland OECD average

Subnational expenditure per capita: USD 9 710 USD 6 817

0

200

400

600

800

1 000

1 200

1 400

1 600

1 800

Total public investmentUSD 1 643 per capita3.8% of GDP

Total public investmentUSD 1 278 per capita3.0% of GDP

Subnational governmentinvestmentUSD 893 per capita54.3% of public invest.

USD per capita

Subnational government investmentUSD 727 per capita 56.9% of public invest.

OECD averageFinland

Subnational government finance