Finland: foresight reports on skills and education needs added to education statistics

The education statistics service Vipunen offers indicators and statistics on education, based on data and registers collected by Statistics Finland, the Ministry of Culture and Education, and the EDUFI. The foresight section established in 2024 offers Power BI reports on four topics:

• competence needs;
• education and training needs of the workforce;
• match between labour demand and supply;
• qualification forecast.

The qualification forecast, published in 2024 for the first time, estimates the number of graduates expected to enter the workforce in 2030, by education field. The foresight report on competence needs outlines what type of field-specific competences will be needed at work by 2030. The report on education and training needs assesses what kind of education and training will be needed for the workforce from 2019 to 2040, by education sector and field. Foresight of the match between supply and demand of labour assesses the balance of the two from 2019 to 2028, by occupational field.

Information source for anyone interested in anticipating education and competence needs 

The foresight data in Vipunen can be used for tasks such as planning the number of qualifications offered, redesigning qualifications, identifying organisational skills needs, and supporting study and career guidance. 
Users can tailor the Power BI reports according to their needs. Visualisations are easy to use in presentations, while numerical data are also available for download as data tables. A description of each report is available for easier interpretation and increased transparency of how the results were calculated. The reports will be revised every two years and are available in Finnish, Swedish and English.

Production of foresight results streamlined

The launch of the foresight section in Vipunen is part of EDUFI’s project to digitalise the production and dissemination of foresight data, supported by EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funding. 
Providing the foresight results as Power BI reports assists the underlying calculations of the results. As the Vipunen statistics that foresights are mainly based on (population, education, and occupational structure) are updated, they can be used to update the foresight calculations. In addition, the effects of different future scenarios on competence, education, and labour force can be examined.

Read more

• Foresight reports in Vipunen  
• Opetushallitus ennakoi [Finnish National Agency for Education -- Anticipating competence needs]: