8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Europe / Northern Europe

Born in Finland

About 1 in 3,030 people born in 2023 started life in Finland. A boy can expect to live 79 years and a girl 85, up from 60 and 68 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 3,030
odds of being born here
43,600 births · Ranked 138th of 230
79 / 85
years of life, boys / girls
Was 60 / 68 in 1950
$23,529
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 45th of 203 · extrapolated
74%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 18 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 51 in every 1,000 births to 2.5.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0204060195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth79.2 years for boys, 84.7 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 52.5 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year60,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people3.6World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles94%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year4 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 3.1 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.3, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
01234195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.28UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth31.5 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 37 and the poorest fifth 9.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2023
9%Poorest fifth
14%Second
18%Middle
22%Fourth
37%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $23,529 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth37% / 9% (2023)World Bank PIP
Unemployment7.1% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises6.3% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-1.8% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming4% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed13% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment143% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Helsinki, with 658,864 people.

74%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Helsinki658,864
Espoo323,910
Tampere260,646
Vantaa252,724
Oulu216,066
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Finnish94%
English70%
Swedish44%
German18%
Finnish, Swedish is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Uusimaa1.7 million
Pirkanmaa473,407
Southwest Finland391,678
North Ostrobothnia272,305
Central Finland204,443
North Savo186,778
Paijat-Hame177,839
Kymenlaakso170,423
Kanta-Häme129,446
Satakunta122,066

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

All 18 regions
  • Uusimaa1.7 million
  • Pirkanmaa473,407
  • Southwest Finland391,678
  • North Ostrobothnia272,305
  • Central Finland204,443
  • North Savo186,778
  • Paijat-Hame177,839
  • Kymenlaakso170,423
  • Kanta-Häme129,446
  • Satakunta122,066
  • Ostrobothnia106,663
  • Lapland105,934
  • South Ostrobothnia101,388
  • South Savo100,187
  • South Karelia97,490
  • North Karelia93,490
  • Central Ostrobothnia48,361
  • Kainuu36,458

People on the move

About 3.2% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Sweden, Norway, Australia.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Sweden129,139
Norway7,986
Australia7,752
Residents born abroad9.2% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 3.2% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostSweden (129,139), Norway (7,986), Australia (7,752)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $876.4 million a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 100%.

100%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
100%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2021)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 202411,466Our World in Data, from WHO

Now live it.

Born in Finland, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Finland

Elsewhere in Europe

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences