In 2023, the population density of Finland was 18.4 inhabitants per square kilometer. The most densely populated region was Uusimaa with approximately 193.2 inhabitants per square kilometer. Lapland was the most scarcely populated region with roughly two inhabitants per square kilometer.

Chart and table of Finland population density from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

The most populous area in Finland is the capital region of Uusimaa, with almost 1.8 million inhabitants as of 2023. Almost one third of the 5.6 million population lived in the capital city and the surrounding Greater Helsinki area. The second largest region in terms of population was Pirkanmaa, inhabited by 539,309 people.

Three out of the ten largest cities located in Uusimaa The Uusimaa region also had Finland's highest population density with roughly 190.4 inhabitants per square kilometer. Pirkanmaa's population density was only 40.2 inhabitants per square meter. Out of the ten largest cities in the country, three of them were located in the Uusimaa region, including the capital city Helsinki.

Changing population structure
The population of Finland is expected to grow in the following decade, reaching 5.57 million in 2030. However, the population is aging rapidly, as the number of inhabitants aged 75 years and older continues to increase in the future. At the same time, the population aged 14 and younger is estimated to constantly decline.

Finland population density for 400m H3 hexagons.

Built from Kontur Population: Global Population Density for 400m H3 Hexagons Vector H3 hexagons with population counts at 400m resolution.

Fixed up fusion of GHSL, Facebook, Microsoft Buildings, Copernicus Global Land Service Land Cover, Land Information New Zealand, and OpenStreetMap data.

WorldPop produces different types of gridded population count datasets, depending on the methods used and end application. Please make sure you have read our Mapping Populations overview page before choosing and downloading a dataset.

Datasets are available to download in Geotiff and ASCII XYZ format at a resolution of 30 arc-seconds (approximately 1km at the equator)

-Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020: Population density datasets for all countries of the World for each year 2000-2020 – derived from the corresponding Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 population count datasets by dividing the number of people in each pixel by the pixel surface area. These are produced using the unconstrained top-down modelling method.
-Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 UN adjusted: Population density datasets for all countries of the World for each year 2000-2020 – derived from the corresponding Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 population UN adjusted count datasets by dividing the number of people in each pixel, adjusted to match the country total from the official United Nations population estimates (UN 2019), by the pixel surface area. These are produced using the unconstrained top-down modelling method.

Data for earlier dates is available directly from WorldPop.

WorldPop (www.worldpop.org - School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton; Department of Geography and Geosciences, University of Louisville; Departement de Geographie, Universite de Namur) and Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University (2018). Global High Resolution Population Denominators Project - Funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1134076). https://dx.doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/WP00674

Finland FI: Population Density: People per Square Km data was reported at 18.136 Person/sq km in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 18.083 Person/sq km for 2016. Finland FI: Population Density: People per Square Km data is updated yearly, averaging 16.299 Person/sq km from Dec 1961 (Median) to 2017, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 18.136 Person/sq km in 2017 and a record low of 14.646 Person/sq km in 1961. Finland FI: Population Density: People per Square Km data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Finland – Table FI.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population density is midyear population divided by land area in square kilometers. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship--except for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin. Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes.; ; Food and Agriculture Organization and World Bank population estimates.; Weighted Average;

The largest city in Finland is Helsinki with 674,500 inhabitants. Helsinki is the capital of Finland, and it is located in the south within the Uusimaa region. In 2023, the second largest city was Espoo, a city located in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, which had approximately 314,000 inhabitants. After the cities of Helsinki and Espoo, the third largest and most populous city outside the capital region was Tampere, with roughly 255,100 inhabitants.

The Finnish population is highly concentrated in southern Finland

The total population of Finland is roughly 5.6 million. Finland is one of the most sparsely populated countries in Europe, and the population is highly concentrated in the southern and southwestern parts of the country. Since 1915 the population of Finland grew steadily from 3.1 million to more than 5.6 million inhabitants. But the upwards trend slowed down in recent years.

The median age of the Finnish population is rising

While the population growth slowed down the Finnish population also got older. The media age increased from 27.8 years in 1950 to 39.4 years in 2000. The estimated median age for the Finnish population in 2022 was 42.6 years.

28.4 (Inhabitants per sq. km) in 2016.

Chart and table of SH.DTH.NCOM.ZS population density from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

The white-tailed deer is an important game species in Finland. We evaluated the potential of estimating the white-tailed deer pre-harvest density using non-invasive DNA collection within a spatial capture–recapture (SCR) framework. We sampled faeces during three weekly visits in autumn 2015 from 180, 20 x 20 m plots clustered in groups of four. Individual identification was based on 12–14 microsatellites. Of the 245 faecal samples collected, an individual could be identified from only 36 (15%). We identified 27 white-tailed deer individuals of which seven were recaptured. The SCR model produced a plausible density estimate (3.5 indiv. km–2) which was similar to estimates based on dung count and large-scale national estimates, although a posteriori simulation showed the SCR estimate was likely positive biased. Although we found that SCR based on faecal DNA can provide pre-harvest density estimates of the white-tailed deer, the approach is not without challenges and we discuss these suggesting possible solutions.

11.5 (Inhabitants per sq. km) in 2016.

Finland administrative division with aggregated population. Built from Kontur Population: Global Population Density for 400m H3 Hexagons on top of OpenStreetMap administrative boundaries data. Enriched with HASC codes for regions taken from Wikidata.
Global version of boundaries dataset: Kontur Boundaries: Global administrative division with aggregated population

In 2023, the share of urban population in Finland remained nearly unchanged at around 85.77 percent. Nevertheless, 2023 still represents a peak in the share in Finland. A population may be defined as urban depending on the size (population or area) or population density of the village, town, or city. The urbanization rate then refers to the share of the total population who live in an urban setting. International comparisons may be inconsistent due to differing parameters for what constitutes an urban center.Find more key insights for the share of urban population in countries like Faroe Islands and Sweden.

40,3 (Inhabitants per sq. km) in 2016.

179,1 (Inhabitants per sq. km) in 2016.

18,7 (Inhabitants per sq. km) in 2016.

In the Nordic countries, Sweden has the largest population with over ten million inhabitants in 2023. Denmark, Finland, and Norway all have between 5.5 and six million inhabitants, whereas Iceland clearly has the lowest number with only 390,000 people. The population increased in all five Nordic countries over the past 20 years. Aging population In all five Nordic countries, the average age of the population is increasing. In all countries except Iceland, people aged 70 years or more make up the largest age groups. Hence, one of the issues facing the Nordic countries in the coming decades is that of a shrinking working stock, while there will be more elderly people in need of daily care. Births, deaths, and migration The two reasons behind the constantly increasing population in the Nordic countries are that more people are born than people dying, and a positive net migration. Except for Finland, the death rate decreased in all Nordic countries over the past 20 years. However, the fertility rate has also fallen in all five countries in the recent years, meaning that an increasing immigration play an important role in sustaining the population growth.

34,6 (Inhabitants per sq. km) in 2016.

With 450,295 square kilometers, Sweden is the largest Nordic country by area size, followed by Finland and Norway. This makes it the fifth largest country in Europe. Meanwhile, Denmark is the smallest of the five Nordic countries with only 43,094 square kilometers, however, the Danish autonomous region of Greenland is significantly larger than any of the Nordic countries, and is almost double the size of the other five combined.

Population

Sweden is also the Nordic country with the largest population. 10.45 million people live in the country. Denmark, Finland, and Norway all have between five and six million inhabitants, whereas only 370,000 people live in Iceland. Meanwhile, Denmark has the highest population density of the five countries. Greenland is the most sparsely populated permanently-inhabited country in the world, followed by the regions of Svalbard and Jan Mayen.

Geography

The five Nordic countries vary geographically. While Denmark is mostly flat, its highest point only stretching around 170 meters above sea level, Norway's highest peak is nearly 2,500 meters high. Moreover, Finland is known for its many lakes and is often called the land of a thousand lakes, whereas Iceland is famous for its volcanoes.

10,5 (Inhabitants per sq. km) in 2016.