Health and social services personnel

Social welfare and health care workforce data support national decision making, guidance and monitoring

Statistics on health and social services personnel provide information on developments in the healthcare and social welfare workforce both nationally and internationally. The statistics mainly cover persons working in the healthcare and social welfare sector or holding a healthcare or social welfare–related job title, as well as persons with an education in the health and social services sector or who are licensed to practise a healthcare or social welfare profession by the Finnish Supervisory Authority (formerly Valvira).

THL produces information on health and social services personnel especially to support national decision making, guidance and monitoring related to health and social policy.

Practical nurses remain the largest group licensed to practise in social and health care in 2025

In 2025, persons under the age of 65 and living in Finland held approximately 760,200 valid licences to practise in social and health care. The number includes all licences granted, and one person may hold several licences.

When only the highest licence to practise (one per person) was considered, there were approximately 456,300 licences among people under 65 living in Finland. Practical nurses were the largest group, with approximately 166,000 persons licensed to practise as practical nurses.

In 2025, Valvira (now the Finnish Supervisory Authority) issued approximately 32,700 licences to practise, which is 8.1 per cent more than in 2024. More than a quarter (26.6%, 8,690 licences) of all new licences issued in 2025 were new licences for practical nurses (healthcare).

All valid licences to practise and holders of the highest licence to practise, 2019–2025.
year	All professional licences total	Professional title holders (highest professional title)
2020	703 189	428 424
2021	714 026	433 715
2022	720 527	436 739
2023	731 052	442 210
2024	744 744	449 218
2025	760 221	456 307

The number of health and social services personnel increased in 2023 – the increase was in social services and in the corporate sector

At the end of 2023, a total of approximately 372,600 people worked in social and health services, about 6,300 more than in 2022.

In 2023, the number of employees in the corporate sector increased in particular. Around 118,500 people worked in the corporate sector in 2023, compared with 111,800 in 2022 — an increase of 6.1 per cent.

Personnel in the public sector increased from approximately 228,500 to 229,800, while the number of employees in the NGO sector decreased from around 26,000 to about 24,300 in 2023.

Distribution of Personnel by Industry in 2023
Luokka en	Numerotieto
Health care	184 596
Social care	183 123
Temporary agency workers in social work and health care	4 897

Distribution of the Main Personnel by Sector in 2023
Luokka en	Numerotieto
Public sector	229 773
Business sector	118 518
Organisation sector	24 309

The number of health and social services personnel in the public sector increased slightly in 2023

Approximately 217,000 people worked in healthcare and social welfare in the public sector in 2023, an increase of 1.2 per cent from 2022.

Approximately 126,000 employees worked in healthcare services, about 84,000 in social welfare, and about 6,800 in related administrative services. The figures do not include temporary agency workers or employees acquired from the private sector through outsourced services.

In 2023, the number of public sector personnel in social welfare services increased by 6.0 per cent or by approximately 4,800 employees compared to 2022. The number of healthcare personnel and personnel in healthcare and social welfare administration decreased. Over the same period, the number of healthcare personnel decreased by about 2 per cent (1,500 employees) and the number of administrative personnel by 9.6 per cent (approximately 700 employees).

Health Care and Social Welfare Personnel in 2008–2023
year	Health care	Social care	Adminstration of health care and social security
2008	129 820	52 249	13 526
2009	131 190	50 998	13 515
2010	128 976	54 790	11 502
2011	128 097	60 669	12 497
2012	129 208	62 330	11 000
2013	124 671	61 793	14 680
2014	123 916	64 323	13 321
2015	121 990	64 460	12 917
2016	122 614	67 652	10 298
2017	126 012	69 998	7 881
2018	124 080	70 010	8 083
2019	122 096	70 524	10 334
2020	124 711	73 664	7 756
2021	126 537	76 195	8 269
2022	127 745	78 750	7 523
2023	126 218	83 501	6 800

Key reporting services

Database reports

Health and social services personnel, professionals and those trained in the field (cube)
Rights to practice a healthcare or social welfare profession and holders of the rights to practice in Finland (database report) (in Finnish)
Health and welfare personnel in the public sector (database report)

Personnel indicators in Sotkanet