Persons working in wellbeing services counties

Public sector social welfare and health care personnel increased slightly in 2023

Approximately 217,000 people were employed in public sector social welfare and health care in 2023, which is 1.2 per cent more than in 2022.

By field of activity, the change varied: employment in social welfare increased, while personnel numbers declined in administration and health care. However, health care remained the largest field of activity, with approximately 58 per cent of social welfare and health care personnel working in health care in 2023.

Distribution of Public Sector Health and Social Care Personnel by Industry in 2023
Industry	Number of employees
Health care	126 218
Social care	83 501
Administration of social and health care	6 800

The number of administrative personnel declined in 2023

Administrative personnel accounted for approximately 3 per cent of total public sector social welfare and health care personnel in 2023.

The number of employees in social welfare and health care administration fluctuated between 2008 and 2023. However, the overall trend was clearly downward. Administrative personnel in social welfare and health care declined by 9.6 per cent (nearly 700 employees) compared with 2022.

Compared with 2008, the number of administrative personnel was only about half. Over a period of fifteen years, the number of employees declined from approximately 13,500 to around 6,800.

Growth in social welfare personnel continued in 2023

In 2023, the number of employees in social welfare increased by 6.0 per cent, corresponding to approximately 4,800 people, compared with 2022.

The growth was particularly concentrated in other outpatient social welfare services (+18.8%) and residential services for older people and persons with disabilities (+17.7%).

The number of health care personnel declined slightly

In 2023, approximately 126,200 people were employed in health care, which is 1.2 per cent fewer than in the previous year.

Share (%) of Personnel Aged 55 or Over in the Public Sector in 2023, by Industry and Selected Major Occupational Groups
%	People under 55	People aged 55 and over
Physicians	80,6	19,4
Nurses, public health nurses and midwives	79,2	20,8
Health care	75,2	24,8
All sectors, total	74	26
Social workers, licensed	73,4	26,6
Social care	72,5	27,5
Health care assistants etc.	70,6	29,4
Administration of social and health care	69,7	30,3

Ageing of the workforce continues – one quarter will reach retirement age by 2033

Of public sector social welfare and health care personnel in 2023, 26 per cent will turn 65 by 2033.

Ageing is particularly pronounced in administration, among practical nurses, and among health care managers.

About the data in more detail

Background information

Source

Personnel of Social and Health Services in the Public Sector 2023
Statistical Report 62/2024, 19.12.2024. 
Official Statistics of Finland, Personnel of Social and Health Services in the Public Sector. THL.

Description of the statistics

The Personnel in local government health and social services statistics describe personnel working in social welfare and health care services and in social welfare and health care administration in wellbeing services counties, the City of Helsinki and the HUS Group, as well as in municipalities and joint municipal and wellbeing services authorities in mainland Finland.

The data are produced from the joint data collection on local government wages conducted by Statistics Finland and Local Government and Wellbeing Services Employers KT, and the material has been refined by linking it with data from the professional registers of Valvira (The Finnish Supervisory Agency as of 1 January 2026).

The data do not cover all public sector social welfare and health care personnel, as persons working in social welfare and health care services provided by the central government (for example the Defence Forces, prison health care and state mental hospitals) or by the Government of Åland (for example health care services) are not included.

For Åland, only part of the data are included in the original material, and these data on personnel in social services provided by municipalities in Åland have been excluded from THL’s statistics on public sector social welfare and health care personnel.

These statistics form part of THL reporting on personnel. In addition, more information on persons who mainly work in Finland in social welfare and health care occupational titles in the private sector, the public sector and the voluntary sector, on persons trained for the social welfare and health care field, and on persons granted professional licences by Valvira is available in the Health Care and Social Welfare Personnel statistics.

Update schedule

The statistics are published once a year, approximately one year after the end of the statistical year. An exception is the data for 2024, the delivery of which has been delayed due to changes in data collection by Statistics Finland.

THL produces the statistics on public sector social welfare and health care personnel based on data from Statistics Finland’s Local Government Wage Survey, which are used for compiling the statistics. Statistics Finland delivers the data to THL after the Local Government Wages statistics have been completed. THL publishes the statistics at the end of the year following the statistical year.

The more exact publication time can be found in the publication calendar.

Publication calendar for statistics