Oulu: population and official figures

In depth

• Economy, jobs and prices in Oulu: Half of the residents of Oulu lived in households with a disposable income of less than €29,772 per consumption unit in 2024 (4th highest among the nine largest cities; Finland €30,523), down 1% from €30,046 in 2019.
• Health in Oulu: THL's age-standardised morbidity index, which combines seven major disease groups, stood at 112.3 in Oulu in 2024 against 100 for the whole country; that is 2nd highest among the nine largest cities.
• Education in Oulu: 13.8% of residents aged 15 or over in Oulu held a master's degree in 2024, above the national figure of 11.5%; that is 4th highest among the nine largest cities, up from 12.4% in 2019.
• Poverty and living standards in Oulu: 15.9% of the dwelling population of Oulu lived below the at-risk-of-poverty line (60% of the national median income) in 2024, above the national figure of 14.2%; that is 5th highest among the nine largest cities, up from 15.6% in 2019.
• Government budget and revenue in Oulu: Net spending on elderly care, including home care and 24-hour service housing, came to €939 per resident in the North Ostrobothnia wellbeing services county, which serves Oulu, in 2025 (4th highest among the nine largest cities; Finland €927).
• Government and politics in Oulu: Oulu is governed by a 67-member city council (kaupunginvaltuusto) elected in the 2025 municipal elections.

Who runs Oulu?

In Finland, cities and towns are run by wellbeing services counties: Regional councils elected (first in 2022, then 2025). Health care, social services and rescue services since January 2023; funded mainly by the state.

How local power works in Finland

Cities of a similar size in Finland

• Helsinki 674,500
• Espoo 314,024
• Tampere 255,050
• Vantaa 247,443
• Turku 201,863
• Jyvaskyla 147,746
• Kuopio 124,021
• Lahti 120,693

Up a level: all cities in Finland · Finland · government and power

Sources

• Eurostat: Eurostat dataset urb_cpop1: Urban Audit: population on 1 January by age groups and sex (cities), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 0ef23d60abc9…)
• Eurostat: Eurostat dataset urb_clivcon: Urban Audit: living conditions (cities), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 bc58ab68d418…)
• 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_ceduc: Urban Audit: education (cities), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 af187c7040a4…)
• Eurostat: Eurostat dataset urb_ctour: Urban Audit: culture and tourism (cities), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 235d13e6125c…)
• Statistics Finland (Tilastokeskus), from the election results of the Ministry of Justice: Numbers and percentage shares of elected councillors by party and constituency in Municipal elections, 2021 and 2025 (table 152l, PxWeb API POST query, json-stat2), read 24 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 35f17f0496d3…)
• Statistics Finland (Tilastokeskus): Offences recorded by year of reporting, figures relative to the population in the area of the offence (table 13h4, Statistics on offences and coercive measures), 2015-2025 (PxWeb API POST query, json-stat2), read 24 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 491eb3d6cd9b…)
• Eurostat: Eurostat dataset urb_cfermor: Urban Audit: fertility and mortality (cities), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 bd2b301d78c2…)
• Eurostat: Eurostat dataset urb_clma: Urban Audit: labour market (cities), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 be050965f9c6…)
• Statistics Finland (Tilastokeskus): Income level, income inequality, population at risk of poverty or dependent on basic social security by region (table 14ww, Income distribution statistics), 2015-2024 (PxWeb API POST query, json-stat2), read 24 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 4dd1f64e4da5…)
• Eurostat: Eurostat dataset urb_ctran: Urban Audit: transport (cities), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 c4e74aa07496…)

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