Health in Helsinki, Finland: official figures
THL's age-standardised morbidity index, which combines seven major disease groups, stood at 89.5 in Helsinki in 2024 against 100 for the whole country; that is 2nd lowest among the nine largest cities.
How often do people see a doctor in Helsinki?
Residents of Helsinki made 1,119 visits to a primary care physician per 1,000 people in 2025 (4th highest among the nine largest cities; Finland 1,056), down 7% from 1,204 in 2020.
Source: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Sotkanet · saved copyHow long is the wait for a doctor in Helsinki?
Patients in Helsinki waited more than a week for 75.5% of elective primary care physician visits in 2024 (2nd longest among the nine largest cities; Finland 48.7%).
Source: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Sotkanet · saved copyHow many people smoke in Helsinki?
In 2020, 10.1% of adults in Helsinki said they smoked every day (4th highest among the nine largest cities; Finland 10.6%).
Source: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Sotkanet · saved copyWhat is the obesity rate in Helsinki?
Obesity affected 17.4% of the adult population of Helsinki in 2020, the lowest among the nine largest cities.
Source: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Sotkanet · saved copyHow much do people drink in Helsinki?
In 2020, risky drinking (AUDIT-C) was reported by 31.9% of adults in the city of Helsinki.
Source: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Sotkanet · saved copyHow much alcohol is sold in Helsinki?
Shops and licensed premises in the city of Helsinki sold 6.9 litres of pure alcohol per resident aged 18 or over in 2025, below the national figure of 7.2.
Source: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Sotkanet · saved copyHow many people get home care in Helsinki?
Regular home care services reached 1.40% of residents of Helsinki in 2025, below the national figure of 2.00%.
Source: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Sotkanet · saved copyHow many people work in healthcare in Helsinki?
Health and social work provided 13.8% of all jobs located in Helsinki in 2023, below the national figure of 18.1%.
Source: Statistics Finland (Tilastokeskus) · saved copyWhat is the infant mortality rate in Helsinki?
The infant mortality rate was 1.9 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2025.
Source: Eurostat · saved copyWhat is the death rate in Helsinki?
There were 8.0 deaths per 1,000 residents in 2024 and 9.3 births per 1,000.
Source: Eurostat · saved copyHow many people die young in Helsinki?
Of 5,537 deaths in Helsinki in 2025, 843 (15%) were of people under 65.
Source: Eurostat · saved copyHow many road deaths are there in Helsinki?
6 people were killed in road accidents in Helsinki in 2023.
Source: Eurostat · saved copyMore figures
- In the EU's 2023 survey of quality of life in European cities, 70% of residents of Helsinki were satisfied with health care services, doctors and hospitals. Source: Eurostat · saved copy
How Helsinki compares with other cities in Finland
THL morbidity index, age-standardised (Finland = 100) (2024)
Helsinki ranks 8 of 9, highest first. Figures come from the wellbeing services counties; Uusimaa combines East, Central and West Uusimaa, Vantaa-Kerava and the City of Helsinki, weighted by population, and NUTS 2 figures combine their counties the same way.
| Rank | City | THL morbidity index, age-standardised (Finland = 100) |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Turku | 108.1 |
| 4 | Tampere | 106.0 |
| 5 | Lahti | 105.3 |
| 6 | Jyvaskyla | 104.8 |
| 7 | Vantaa | 90.8 |
| 8 | Helsinki | 89.5 |
| 9 | Espoo | 81.0 |
Outpatient physician visits in primary health care per 1,000 residents (2025)
Helsinki ranks 4 of 9, highest first.
| Rank | City | Outpatient physician visits in primary health care per 1,000 residents |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turku | 1,183 |
| 2 | Tampere | 1,173 |
| 3 | Kuopio | 1,172 |
| 4 | Helsinki | 1,119 |
| 5 | Vantaa | 966 |
| 6 | Jyvaskyla | 857 |
| 7 | Oulu | 851 |
Non-urgent primary care physician visits with a wait of over 7 days (%) (2024)
Helsinki ranks 2 of 9, highest first.
| Rank | City | Non-urgent primary care physician visits with a wait of over 7 days (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oulu | 81.1% |
| 2 | Helsinki | 75.5% |
| 3 | Vantaa | 73.1% |
| 4 | Jyvaskyla | 71.6% |
| 5 | Kuopio | 63.7% |
| 6 | Espoo | 53.9% |
| 7 | Lahti | 48.5% |
Daily smokers among adults (%) (2020)
Helsinki ranks 4 of 9, highest first.
| Rank | City | Daily smokers among adults (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vantaa | 16.2% |
| 2 | Lahti | 12.5% |
| 3 | Kuopio | 11.6% |
| 4 | Helsinki | 10.1% |
| 5 | Turku | 10.1% |
| 6 | Jyvaskyla | 8.6% |
| 7 | Oulu | 8.5% |
Adults with obesity (BMI 30 or more) (%) (2020)
Helsinki ranks 9 of 9, highest first.
| Rank | City | Adults with obesity (BMI 30 or more) (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Oulu | 22.0% |
| 4 | Lahti | 21.3% |
| 5 | Turku | 21.1% |
| 6 | Espoo | 18.5% |
| 7 | Jyvaskyla | 18.5% |
| 8 | Tampere | 17.6% |
| 9 | Helsinki | 17.4% |
Infant deaths per 1,000 live births (2025)
Helsinki ranks 4 of 9, highest first.
| Rank | City | Infant deaths per 1,000 live births |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lahti | 3.6 |
| 2 | Oulu | 2.4 |
| 3 | Turku | 2.3 |
| 4 | Helsinki | 1.9 |
| 5 | Tampere | 1.3 |
| 6 | Vantaa | 1.2 |
| 7 | Espoo | 1.1 |
More on Helsinki: overview · economy and jobs · education and schools · poverty and living standards · government budget · government and politics · all cities in Finland
Sources
- Statistics Finland (Tilastokeskus): Regional time series 1987-2025 (table 142h, Municipal key figures database): population, housing, education, employment and jobs by NUTS region, region and municipality (PxWeb API POST query, json-stat2, years 2015-2025), read 24 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 18a97e220312…)
- Eurostat: Eurostat dataset urb_percep: Quality of life in European cities survey 2023: perception (cities), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 81bd3e277f3e…)
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Sotkanet: Sotkanet indicator bank, REST API 1.1: 32 indicators (one exact JSON response per indicator, e.g. indicator=5761, plus the region list) on morbidity, primary care, lifestyle, social assistance, homelessness, county election turnout and the net operating costs of wellbeing services counties, 2015-2025, bundled in one zip, read 24 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 e5b01db4f1e9…)
- Eurostat: Eurostat dataset urb_cfermor: Urban Audit: fertility and mortality (cities), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 bd2b301d78c2…)
- Eurostat: Eurostat dataset urb_ctran: Urban Audit: transport (cities), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 c4e74aa07496…)
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