Building stock and new production: documentation of statistics

The statistics on building stock and new production describe the production of buildings and dwellings, as well as the existing building and dwelling stock.

The statistics describe the production of buildings and dwellings with the help of the volume of newbuilding subject to building permits and the volume of building production. The measurement units for construction actions having been granted a building permit and building projects started and completed are the number of construction actions, cubic volume, floor area and number of new dwellings. The volume index of newbuilding describes the fixed-price value of ongoing newbuilding relative to the comparison period, the index base year.

In the statistics, the building stock is described according to the intended use of the building, year of construction and gross floor area, for example. Both dwelling and resident data can be linked to buildings with the help of various identification data and building stock data can be produced by all regional divisions based on municipalities and coordinates and by postal code area. Building stock data also include data on free-time residential buildings, such as free-time residences.

The data of the statistics are mainly derived from the built environment information system Ryhti maintained by the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), to which municipal building supervision authorities report data concerning buildings that are subject to building permits.

The data for the statistics are extracted from the data on buildings and construction actions in the Finnish Environment Institute's Ryhti system.  

The population of the statistics on new production of buildings and dwellings comprises construction actions requiring a building permit, which include new buildings to be built, building expansions and alterations comparable to reconstruction, and new dwellings located in them. The data of the statistics are gradually supplemented as municipal building supervision authorities enter data into the register.

As a rule, under the Construction Act that entered into force at the beginning of 2025, building permits are no longer needed for new buildings of under 30 square metres with other intended use than housing. These buildings are excluded from the statistics starting from the statistical reference year 2025. In addition, the time series of the statistics does not include construction actions directed at buildings demolished before autumn 2024, because their data are not available from the Finnish Environment Institute's Ryhti system.

As regards building stock data, the statistics represent total statistics. The building data of the Ryhti system are not exhaustive for all building types, for which reason buildings used in agricultural production and sauna buildings and outhouses of residential buildings, for example, are eliminated from the building stock statistics.

The statistical units of the statistics on building stock and new production are construction action, building and dwelling.

The measurement units for the new production of buildings and dwellings are the number of construction actions (building projects), cubic volume, gross floor area and number of dwellings. The measurement unit of the volume index of newbuilding is the index point figure and year-on-year change.

The measurement units used in the building stock data are the number of buildings and dwellings and the gross floor area of buildings in square metres.

The base year of the volume index of newbuilding included in the statistics is 2020=100.

In terms of new production, the reference period of the statistics is month. The data are published at a lag of around eight weeks from the end of the statistical reference month. The regional division used is the regional division valid in the latest reference period.

Data on the building stock are published annually and they describe the situation on the last day of the year. The data are completed approximately four to five months after the statistical reference period.

The regional breakdown applied in the building stock data is the regional breakdown valid on the day after the compilation period, i.e. the first day at the turn of a year. Therefore, the statistics concerning any municipalities that merge on the first day of a year are compiled as one.

The data of the statistics are published on the level of the whole country, regions, municipalities and postal code areas. Data can be produced by all regional divisions based on municipalities and coordinates.

In terms of new production of buildings, the statistics cover all categories according to the Classification of Buildings 2018.

The data on new production do not include buildings entirely controlled by foreign missions, buildings of the Finnish Defence Forces and air raid shelters.

The data in the building register maintained by the Finnish Environment Institute have not been comprehensive for all building types, for which reason the building stock data do not primarily include buildings used in agricultural production, sauna and outhouses of residential buildings, buildings of the Finnish Defence Forces, air raid shelters, buildings entirely controlled by foreign missions, liquid storage buildings or light-structured shelters and kiosks, except when the aforementioned buildings are occupied.

In the source material, Syke categorizes the intended use of the building in a way that deviates from the classification made by the municipal building supervision. For example, some of the buildings in Building Class 11 Civil Engineering buildings have been classified for data protection reasons so that the correct class of use is not known at Statistics Finland. This has an impact on the number and volume of buildings in Class 11 of the Building Classification and therefore the data are not comparable with previously published data.

Statistics Finland began the annual production of statistics on the building stock from 1987 and the production of statistics on free-time residential buildings from 1989. Previously, corresponding data were produced at ten-year intervals in connection with the Population and Housing Census starting from 1950.

For new production, the time series is updated starting from 1995 and for the volume index of newbuilding starting from 2000. The data are updated monthly.

Data on new production of buildings and dwellings are published monthly and data on the building stock are published annually.

Starting from the statistical reference year 2025, the main data source for the statistics concerning buildings, dwellings and building permits was transferred from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency to the Finnish Environment Institute. At the same time, the base year of the volume index of new production was changed to 2020=100 and the estimation method for building starts used in describing building production was renewed. 

Data on buildings and construction actions subject to building permits are obtained from the Finnish Environment Institute weekly. The data include construction actions having been granted a building permit, building projects started and completed, and changes to existing buildings.

The current Construction Act entered into force on 1 January 2025. Unlike before, building permits are no longer required for new buildings of less than 30 square metres with other intended use than housing. These buildings are excluded from the statistics starting from the statistical reference year 2025.

Data reported by municipalities on building projects started accumulate at a delay to the Finnish Environment Institute, for which reason new production data for the latest month are always based on incomplete data at the time of production. The data of the volume index of newbuilding are never final, because data on starts of building projects subject to building permits are continuously updated.

The coverage of the key data on the dwelling stock is fairly good. However, some errors may occur in the numbers of buildings and the attribute data, because not all change data are comprehensively reported to the authorities.

Annually compiled statistical data may be relatively comparable over a longer period of time. Individual annual changes are not accurate in all respects.

From 2020 onwards, free-time residences have been defined as unoccupied buildings included in categories 0210 and 0211 of the Classification of Buildings. Prior to that, detached houses in leisure-time use were included in the data on free-time residences.

It is also possible for the intended use of a free-time residence to be changed into a residential building when it is taken into residential use. A free-time residential building is also recorded as a residential building in case its address is given as a permanent address in the notification of move.

A great many free-time residences do not have data on electrification or running water and sewage connections. According to a sample-based survey (Kesämökkibarometri 2021), 79 per cent of free-time residences fell within the scope of the electricity network and 19 per cent got their domestic water from the network of a water supply plant or a water cooperative. The corresponding data in the statistics on free-time residences based on the official register is that clearly under half of free-time residences have an electricity connection and only a few per cent a connection to a system of running water.

At the beginning of 2015, a permanent building identifier was adopted in the statistics on building stock and in the Digital and Population Data Services Agency's information system, which may have some effect on time series data.
 

The data of the statistics on new production are released at a lag of around eight weeks.

For the building stock, the delay between the reference period and the release time of the data is typically three to five months.

The data of the statistics are released on the agreed date in accordance with Statistics Finland's release calendar. Information about changes in the release date is provided as early as possible.

The data on new production are based on data reported by municipalities on the construction stages of granted building permits. Data reported by municipalities are accumulated at a delay to the Finnish Environment Institute. The statistics on new production become revised most during approximately 12 months from the first release.

Revisions to data (volume of construction actions having been granted a building permit and annual change in the volume index) between different releases are presented in their own tables on the home page of the statistics.

In addition to the slow accumulation of data, municipalities' divergent practices in granting and reporting building permits sometimes cause measurement or reporting errors in register data, which are corrected in statistics production.

In the building stock data, errors are caused by that not all building change actions require a building permit, in which case data on changes are not necessarily transmitted to the register. Errors are corrected in statistics production with logical inference and by supplementing data with other register sources.

Data reported by municipalities on building projects are accumulated at a delay to the Finnish Environment Institute. Due to the delay the latest statistics on new production are always based on incomplete data at the time of production. The data of the volume index of newbuilding are never final, because data on starts of building projects subject to building permits are continuously updated.


No over-coverage is connected to the statistics. The entire number of units in the statistics is contained in administrative sources.

In addition to the slow accumulation of data, municipalities' divergent practices in granting building permits and reporting change data and permits of buildings sometimes cause measurement or reporting errors in register data, which are corrected. The slow accumulation of data also affects the quality of the data.

Inference utilising available floor area and volume data related to the process of correcting measurement or reporting errors in register data may cause processing errors. It may be difficult to detect especially errors of small magnitude.

The data of the statistics are municipal building project data and change data of buildings that are reported to the register. Data derive from all Finnish municipalities, so the data are geographically comparable.

The statistics do not include comparisons between countries.

The data of the statistics can be compiled with both national and European regional classifications (NUTS) and with coordinate based regional divisions.

From the statistical reference year 2025, the main data source for the statistics was transferred from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency to the Finnish Environment Institute Syke. At the same time, the statistics production process was renewed at Statistics Finland, and the statistics on buildings and free-time residences and the statistics on building and dwelling production were combined into the new statistics on building stock and new production.

When comparing data from different periods, it must be taken into account that some of the changes may be attributable to checks made to the register, changes in the compiling of the statistical data, or different collection methods during earlier years. For example, corrections to years of construction have an impact on the age structure of buildings. Likewise, changes to the intended use of buildings have to be accounted for when reviewing annual changes. 

The current Construction Act entered into force on 1 January 2025. Unlike before, building permits are no longer required for new buildings of under 30 square metres with other intended use than housing. These include, for example, sauna buildings and outhouses. Because the statistics on new production are based on construction actions subject to a building permit, new non-residential buildings of under 30 square metres are excluded from the statistics starting from the statistical reference year 2025. The time series data are not fully comparable for those building categories in which there are many such small projects. The change is most visible in the number of construction actions, the effect on the volume and gross floor area is smaller.

The statistics do not include construction actions directed at buildings demolished before autumn 2024, because their data are not available from the Finnish Environment Institute's Ryhti system.

As of 1987, the building stock data have been produced annually on the basis of registers, and the annually compiled statistical data are relatively comparable over a longer period of time. Annual changes, however, are not accurate in all respects. 

The current classification of the intended use of buildings, the Classification of Buildings 2018, was adopted in the statistics on building stock in the statistical reference year 2020. The prior classification of 1994 was used starting from the statistical reference year 1993. Data in accordance with the new building classification are available in terms of building stock data starting from 2005.

The first published register-based statistics on free-time residences are from 1989, after which they have been published yearly. The Population Register Centre (the current Digital and Population Data Services Agency) supplemented the building data in the Population Information System by adding the Tax Administration’s data on free-time residences to the register in the summer of 1990. After this, municipalities checked missing coordinate and attribute data. The preceding data on free-time residences derive from the 1980 census, in which the data were collected with forms.

At the beginning of 1997, the Population Register Centre (the current Digital and Population Data Services Agency) again supplemented the building data in the Population Information System with the Tax Administration’s real estate data. Significant numbers of free-time residences were also added to the register at this point. Some of the units in the Tax Administration’s data may already have been in the Population Information System’s building data under a different identifier.

The identification system of the Population Register Centre’s (the current Digital and Population Data Services Agency) Population Information System changed in November 2014 with the adoption of the permanent building identifier. In the statistics, the permanent building identifier is used as of the statistical reference year 2014. This may have some impact on time series and annual change data.

The renewal of the classification of buildings made in connection with the production renewal in 2020 had the following effect: the compilation of statistics on free-time residences changed in such a way that, according to the new Classification of Buildings, all free-time residential buildings are classified under the same building category, 021 (Free-time residential buildings), and are no longer separated into actual free-time residential buildings and rental holiday cottages. At the same time, these rental holiday cottages according to the old classification, of which there are some 14,000 in total, were removed from the category of commercial buildings describing the building stock; this must be taken into consideration in a review of the time series. In addition, detached houses in leisure-time use (of which there are approximately 40,000) are no longer included in the statistics on free-time residences. In the new Classification of Buildings, the category of residential buildings also includes residential buildings for communities and dwellings for special groups.

Each dwelling included in the statistics on household-dwelling units and housing conditions can also be found from data describing the dwelling stock in the statistics on building stock and new production.

The data on new production in the statistics on building stock and new production do not fully correspond with the data of the discontinued statistics on building and dwelling production due to differences in the source data (Finnish Environment Institute/Digital and Population Data Services Agency) and changes made to the processing methods of the statistics. The statistics on building stock and new production do not include construction actions directed at buildings demolished before autumn 2024, because their data are not available from the Ryhti system.

The data of the statistics are used as source data for national accounts.

The building and dwelling stock data in Statistics Finland’s statistics on building stock and new production correspond to each other in such a way that for each dwelling in the dwelling stock, there is a corresponding building in the building stock.

Due to changes within the building stock, buildings completed in the new production data do not increase the stock by the same number. The building stock data describe the active building stock, that is, buildings demolished and destroyed are removed from the data. Buildings that have not been occupied for a long time are also removed from the stock data. However, they are returned to the building stock if they are returned to residential use and people move in there. Changes in the intended use of buildings also have an effect on the building stock data.

Buildings used in agricultural production, as well as sauna buildings and outhouses, which are, in turn, included in the new production data, are eliminated from the building stock data.

The unit in the statistics on new production is construction actions, which include, in addition to new buildings, expansions to existing buildings, for example. The unit used in the statistics on building stock is a building. 

Furthermore, expansions to the building stock and alterations comparable to reconstruction can be registered under the start date of the building permit in the data describing newbuilding, but under the building’s original year of completion in the building stock data. The differences in the numbers between the data on building stock and new production may also be caused by different extraction times, because the data on new production are revised monthly.

The source data for the statistics on building stock and new production are weekly data on changes in buildings and construction actions supplied by the Finnish Environment Institute. These include, for example, new buildings and construction actions requiring a building permit, changes to building attribute data and supplementations to these data. The data are based on the data delivered by municipal building supervision authorities to the Finnish Environment Institute, which are defined by the Act on the Population Information System.

To define the value of newbuilding, the volume index of newbuilding uses the cubic prices of newbuilding by building category and area and the regional tender price index of newbuilding produced by Haahtela Oy. In the data, Finnish municipalities are divided into six cost-of-living categories. 

The knowledge base of the system concerning buildings and dwellings is made up of data collected from the owners or occupants of a building or dwelling in connection to Statistics Finland’s 1980 census. The data collection was based on the Census Act and a separate Census Decree.

The data of the Tax Administration’s real estate register are used in the statistics for corrections and supplementations. The attribute data of buildings are also supplemented with data from the energy certificate register of ARA (Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland). The data on moves formed with the help of population information are used to express completed buildings to which people have moved but which are not yet included as completed in the data.

There is no separate data collection for the statistics on building stock and new production. Statistics Finland has agreements with data suppliers on the delivery of data weekly and on the annual level.

The data for the statistics on building stock and new production are extracted to Statistics Finland weekly.

Due to the slow accumulation of notices of building starts, the actual number of building projects started is estimated using the number of known starts. This is implemented with a statistical regression model that estimates how many building projects started are known two years from the reference month. The model takes into account the accrual of building project starts during the statistical reference month, the number of construction actions having been granted a building permit during the previous year, the calendar month and the intended use of the building. The inflating coefficients used in the model are updated annually. The estimation accuracy of building starts is affected by annual variation in the volume of new production and the accumulation rate of building starts data.

In the inflating method of starts data, the approximation estimated by the model of the actual number of projects started is compared with the current data on building projects started. The difference between these is an estimate of the number of building projects started that have not yet been reported to the Finnish Environment Institute. Projects started are drawn from construction actions not started according to that difference. Building projects taking part in the draw are limited so that building projects of over 50,000 cubic metres and over 70 new dwellings are left out. 

The estimation of starts data is made monthly for the latest 24 months and the data become revised most for around 12 months from the first release. Data older than these are not estimated.  Estimated starts data are used in the calculation of the volume index of newbuilding. 

To improve the completion data of building projects, notices of moves are utilised in the compilation of statistics. Construction projects are combined by means of building codes to the Digital and Population Data Agency's data on moves and the newbuilding is classified as completed if it is occupied.

Given that the Population Information System’s data do not provide precise data on removals, Statistics Finland aims to eliminate old buildings and dwellings as well as buildings and dwellings in poor repair from the building stock. If permanent residents nevertheless move into such a building removed from the building stock, the building is returned to the building stock.

Data on new buildings built without a permit and data on alterations and improvements are not transmitted to the information system. Changes to the heating system or heating fuel are not, in all cases, subject to a permit. The same issue applies to data on the facilities and network connections of a building, which may contain errors. Statistics Finland is able to correct some of the erroneous data by removing inconsistencies between various facilities, heating systems and heating fuels. The data which have only been collected after the establishment of the 1980 knowledge base also contain deficiencies. Data on lifts, balconies and mechanical ventilation, for instance, may be deficient. The year of a building’s completion and other attribute data have been corrected at Statistics Finland as of 2017 with data in the Tax Administration’s real estate register.
 

Logicality checks between variables are made to the source data. Separately defined error checks are used to examine the correctness of the data. 

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