Stroller being pushed outside in Helsinki on a sunny day. Photo: Emmi Korhonen / Lehtikuva
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Life expectancy in Finland reached an all-time high in 2024, while the country’s birth rate dropped to the lowest level since records began, according to new data from Statistics Finland.
The provisional figures show that life expectancy at birth rose to 79.6 years for boys and 84.8 years for girls. Compared to 2023, this marks an increase of 0.7 years for boys and 0.6 years for girls.
Senior statistician Joni Rantakari from Statistics Finland said that life expectancy has now risen for two consecutive years.
“Compared to the early 2000s, life expectancy for men has increased by more than five years and for women by nearly four years,” he stated.
The mortality rate also declined. In 2024, the overall mortality rate stood at 10.4 deaths per 1,000 people, down from 11.0 the previous year. A total of 58,267 deaths were recorded, about 3,000 fewer than in 2023. This represents a five percent decrease.
Despite the fall, Rantakari noted that the number remains relatively high by historical standards. “With the exception of the two pandemic years, it has been 80 years since the annual death toll exceeded 58,000,” he said, referring to 1944, during the Second World War.
The demographic data also revealed gender differences in mortality. Men accounted for 51 percent of the deaths. In younger age groups, male deaths were more common, but among people aged 83 and above, women predominated.
Infant mortality rose slightly. A total of 91 infants under one year of age died, 15 more than in 2023. The infant mortality rate was 2.1 deaths per 1,000 live births. Boys recorded a rate of 2.0 and girls 2.1.
At the same time, Finland’s birth rate dropped to its lowest point since statistical records began in 1776. The total fertility rate in 2024 was 1.25 children per woman.
The situation was particularly severe in larger cities. In Tampere and Turku, the fertility rate between 2021 and 2024 was 1.06.
Statistics Finland also reported that nearly 20 percent of babies born in 2024 had mothers whose first language was other than Finnish, Swedish, or Sámi.
Rantakari explained that normal conditions tend to see life expectancy rising steadily. Only a few years since 2000 have shown a decline, most recently in 2022, when death rates surged by nearly 10 percent.
The dramatic improvement in mortality figures over the past two years, combined with the historical low in birth rates, highlights a growing demographic challenge for Finland.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
