European and national policies on Vocational Education and Training (VET) need to be informed by sound and internationally comparable statistical evidence. The VET country statistical overviews are concise, descriptive and user friendly statistical reports. For each country, they quantify and compare key aspects of VET and lifelong learning. The selection is based on the indicators' policy relevance and their importance in achieving the Europe 2020 objectives.

VET indicators for Finland for the last available year
Index numbers (EU=100)

NB:   The index numbers are derived from data summarised in the table. Data in the table have been rounded to one or two decimal places. The calculation of index numbers is instead based on not rounded data.

Finland’s performance on a range of indicators selected to monitor progress in VET and lifelong learning across the European Union (EU) is summarised below. The chart compares the situation in Finland with that of the EU, based on the most recent data available (this differs by indicator). Data in the chart are presented as an index where the EU average equals 100. If the index for a selected indicator for Finland is 100, then its performance equals the EU average. If the index is 90, its performance is 90% of (or 10% below) the EU average. If the index is 200, Finland’s performance is twice (or 200%) the EU average. For some indicators, such as early leavers from education and training, a country is performing better if its score is below that of the EU average.

Data on which the index is calculated are presented in the table, which also shows developments over time. A technical definition of each indicator is provided in the annex.

Key points

Access, attractiveness and flexibility

The share of all upper secondary school students enrolled in IVET in Finland (71.3%) is much higher than the EU average (47.3% in 2015). Enrolment among female students is also higher (68.8% versus 42.0%). The share of students in upper secondary VET enrolled in combined work- and school-based programmes (13.6%) is lower than the EU average (28.4% in 2015).

Adult participation in lifelong learning (26.4%) is much higher than the EU average (10.8% in 2016) and well above the average target (15%) set by the strategic framework Education and training 2020. Older adults (18.9%), adults with a lower level of educational attainment (12.9%) and the unemployed (21.2%) are all more likely to participate in lifelong learning in Finland than across the EU, and their participation rates have been rising.

Data for 2010 indicate that enterprises are more likely to provide training than in the EU (74% versus 66%), but employees are less likely to participate in on-the-job training (12% versus 20%). Participation in employer-sponsored CVT courses, however, is slightly above the EU average (40% versus 38% in 2010).

Skill development and labour market relevance

Data from 2014 show that public expenditure on IVET as a percentage of GDP is noticeably higher in Finland (1.20%) than in the EU (0.54%). The percentage of graduates in STEM subjects (22.0%) from upper secondary VET is lower than the EU average (30.8% in 2015). The percentage of innovative enterprises with supportive training practices is also lower than in the EU (39.8% versus 44.8% in the EU, based on data for 2014). While 69% of workers in Finland report that their skills match their duties, only 58% do so across the EU.

The employment rate of IVET graduates (aged 20-34) at ISCED levels 3-4 (79.1%) is close to the EU average (78.1%). Their employment rate is 10.4 percentage points higher than for graduates from general education (above the EU average premium of 5.7) and 35.1 percentage points higher than for graduates with lower-level qualifications (also above the EU average premium of 23.4). These employment figures relate to 2016 and exclude young people in further education and training.

Overall transitions and labour market trends

In this section all data refer to 2016 unless otherwise stated.

The share of early leavers from education and training in Finland (7.9%) is lower than across the EU on average (10.7%): Finland is below the Europe 2020 average target (10%) and its national target (8%). Educational attainment is relatively high: 46.1% of the 30 to 34 year-olds have tertiary-level education. This is above the EU average (39.1%). The percentage of people with a lower level of educational attainment (11.9%) is lower than the EU average (23.0%).

The employment rate for 20 to 64 year-olds is higher than in the EU as a whole (73.4% for Finland; 71.0% for the EU). The NEET rate for 18 to 24 year-olds (at 13.7%) and the 20 to 34 year-olds’ unemployment rate (at 10.7%) are both lower than for the EU (at 15.2% and 11.8%, respectively). However, the employment rate for recent graduates is a little lower in Finland (77.4%) in comparison with the EU (78.2%). The employment rate of 20 to 64 year-olds with a low level of educational attainment is slightly lower in Finland (52.0%) than in the EU (53.6%), and has decreased since 2010.

Score on VET indicators in the Finland and in the EU, 2010,
last available year and recent change

EU refers to EU-28, unless otherwise specified. Arrows ↗ or ↘ signal a positive or negative change. Arrow → indicates: no change.

(A) UOE back reconstruction of 2010 values based on ISCED 2011 not yet available. (B) AES 2011, used as proxy for 2010 baseline. (C) 2014 b flags in Eurostat online tables ignored on the basis of other relevant Eurostat metadata. (D) Forecast made in 2016. (E1) Based on 28 countries, with partial information for NL. (E2) Based on 28 countries, with partial information for EL, ES, NL, PL, RO. (E3) Based on 28 countries, with partial information for IT, NL. (E4) Based on 23 countries (missing: DK, EL, HR, IT, PT), with partial information for IE and FR. (E5) Based on 23 countries (missing: DK, EL, HR, IT, PT), with partial information for IE and FR. (E6) Based on 28 countries, with partial information for DK, EL, NL. (E7) Based on 25 countries (missing: HR, IT, UK), with partial information for BE, CZ, DK, DE, EE, EL, LU, NL, PL, SE. (E8) Based on 25 countries (missing: IE, FR, UK), with partial information for BE, EL, LU. (E9) Based on 26 countries (missing: IE, UK), with partial information for DK, DE. (E10) Based on 28 countries. (b) Break after 2010, therefore baseline data not included. (u) Eurostat: ‘low reliability’. (z) Eurostat: ‘not applicable’. (e) Eurostat: ‘estimated’.

Country-specific report details

Country report type
Keywords

Downloads

Statistical overview on VET - Finland - 2017 edition

EN 186.81 KB

Annex 1 – Short descriptions of indicators and additional notes

EN 74.35 KB

Annex 2 – Reading the Country statistical overviews

EN 39.5 KB

Annex 3 – 2017 Masterfile Country statistical overviews

EN 488.58 KB