Number of over-70s in Finland surpasses one million

By admin On Sep 25, 2025

Over 80-year old elder at home. Photo: Eija Kontio / Lehtikuva

Finland’s population of people aged 70 and over exceeded one million for the first time in August, according to preliminary figures from Statistics Finland.

At the end of the month, there were 1,000,148 people in this age group, accounting for 18% of the country’s population. In the early 1990s, the share was 9%. Of those over 70, 432,017 were men and 568,131 were women.

“The rise reflects population ageing.

The large cohorts born after the war are now between 75 and 80 years old,” said Joonas Toivola, senior actuary at Statistics Finland.

He added that long-term declines in mortality and gains in life expectancy have supported the increase in the number of older people.

The highest regional share of over-70s was recorded in South Savo at 25.8%. At municipal level, the largest shares were in Rääkkylä (36.7%), Sysmä (36.7%) and Kuhmoinen (36.2%).

While the older population is growing, the largest single birth cohort in Finland is currently those born in 1990, numbering 78,615. The 1992 cohort followed closely with 78,547, and the 1983 cohort with 77,621. Looking at five-year age groups, the largest was people aged 30–34, totalling 382,328 or 6.8% of the population.

Immigration has influenced these figures. When considering only those born in Finland, the largest cohorts are those born in 1963 (68,276) and 1964 (67,714).

“Finland’s largest ever birth cohort was in 1947, when 108,168 children were born. They turn 78 this year. According to preliminary statistics, 62,112 of them were still living in Finland in August. The number of survivors is even higher if those living abroad are included,” said Markus Rapo, senior actuary at Statistics Finland.

Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi