Health in Oulu, Finland: official figures
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.
How often do people see a doctor in Oulu?
Residents of Oulu made 851 visits to a primary care physician per 1,000 people in 2025 (3rd lowest among the nine largest cities; Finland 1,056), up 9% from 781 in 2020.
Source: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Sotkanet · saved copyHow long is the wait for a doctor in Oulu?
Patients in Oulu waited more than a week for 81.1% of elective primary care physician visits in 2024 (the longest among the nine largest cities; Finland 48.7%).
Source: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Sotkanet · saved copyHow many people smoke in Oulu?
In 2020, 8.5% of adults in Oulu said they smoked every day (3rd lowest among the nine largest cities; Finland 10.6%).
Source: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Sotkanet · saved copyWhat is the obesity rate in Oulu?
Obesity affected 22.0% of the adult population of Oulu in 2020, 3rd highest among the nine largest cities.
Source: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Sotkanet · saved copyHow much do people drink in Oulu?
In 2020, risky drinking (AUDIT-C) was reported by 29.9% of adults in the city of Oulu.
Source: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Sotkanet · saved copyHow much alcohol is sold in Oulu?
Shops and licensed premises in the city of Oulu sold 6.4 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 Oulu?
Regular home care services reached 1.60% of residents of Oulu 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 Oulu?
Health and social work provided 21.7% of all jobs located in Oulu in 2023, above the national figure of 18.1%.
Source: Statistics Finland (Tilastokeskus) · saved copyWhat is the infant mortality rate in Oulu?
The infant mortality rate was 2.4 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2025.
Source: Eurostat · saved copyWhat is the death rate in Oulu?
There were 7.4 deaths per 1,000 residents in 2025 and 9.5 births per 1,000.
Source: Eurostat · saved copyHow many people die young in Oulu?
Of 1,599 deaths in Oulu in 2025, 221 (14%) were of people under 65.
Source: Eurostat · saved copyHow many road deaths are there in Oulu?
3 people were killed in road accidents in Oulu in 2024.
Source: Eurostat · saved copyMore figures
- 65% of people in Oulu were satisfied with health care services, doctors and hospitals (EU quality of life in European cities survey, 2023). Source: Eurostat · saved copy
How Oulu compares with other cities in Finland
THL morbidity index, age-standardised (Finland = 100) (2024)
Oulu ranks 2 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) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kuopio | 118.7 |
| 2 | Oulu | 112.3 |
| 3 | Turku | 108.1 |
| 4 | Tampere | 106.0 |
| 5 | Lahti | 105.3 |
| 6 | Jyvaskyla | 104.8 |
| 7 | Vantaa | 90.8 |
Outpatient physician visits in primary health care per 1,000 residents (2025)
Oulu ranks 7 of 9, highest first.
| Rank | City | Outpatient physician visits in primary health care per 1,000 residents |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Kuopio | 1,172 |
| 4 | Helsinki | 1,119 |
| 5 | Vantaa | 966 |
| 6 | Jyvaskyla | 857 |
| 7 | Oulu | 851 |
| 8 | Lahti | 769 |
| 9 | Espoo | 751 |
Non-urgent primary care physician visits with a wait of over 7 days (%) (2024)
Oulu ranks 1 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)
Oulu ranks 7 of 9, highest first.
| Rank | City | Daily smokers among adults (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Kuopio | 11.6% |
| 4 | Helsinki | 10.1% |
| 5 | Turku | 10.1% |
| 6 | Jyvaskyla | 8.6% |
| 7 | Oulu | 8.5% |
| 8 | Tampere | 8.4% |
| 9 | Espoo | 6.8% |
Adults with obesity (BMI 30 or more) (%) (2020)
Oulu ranks 3 of 9, highest first.
| Rank | City | Adults with obesity (BMI 30 or more) (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vantaa | 22.4% |
| 2 | Kuopio | 22.3% |
| 3 | Oulu | 22.0% |
| 4 | Lahti | 21.3% |
| 5 | Turku | 21.1% |
| 6 | Espoo | 18.5% |
| 7 | Jyvaskyla | 18.5% |
Infant deaths per 1,000 live births (2025)
Oulu ranks 2 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 |
Deaths per 1,000 residents (2025)
Oulu ranks 6 of 8, highest first.
| Rank | City | Deaths per 1,000 residents |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Turku | 9.9 |
| 3 | Kuopio | 9.6 |
| 4 | Tampere | 8.6 |
| 5 | Jyvaskyla | 8.1 |
| 6 | Oulu | 7.4 |
| 7 | Vantaa | 7.0 |
| 8 | Espoo | 5.8 |
More on Oulu: 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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