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1. Persons employed in cultural occupations according to the Labour Force Survey

The definition of cultural activities and occupations is not drawn precisely and the EU has developed a recommendation on how to define the field of culture. Therefore, there is no unambiguous solution as to how culture is calculated according to industry and occupation. The industrial activities and occupations used here are listed in more detail in the Quality Description. The used industrial classification is the Standard Industrial Classification 2008 and the used classification of occupations is the Classification of Occupations 2001.

The Labour Force Survey is a sample survey. As the group examined is relatively small, the size of the Labour Force Survey sample is not sufficient to describe its sub-groups reliably in all respects. However, the sample survey makes it possible for the interviewees to tell what their occupation is in their own opinion. It is assumed that the information obtained in this way describes better the actual total numbers of those employed in cultural occupations than the information based on registers. Culture consists of fairly small groups by their activities and occupational groups and therefore this survey presents results separately only when the estimated size of the group is around 10,000. Then the standard error for the result is about four per cent.

Employment has weakened in the cultural activities by over five per cent from 2010 to the end of 2012. In 2010, the activities employed approximately 117,860 people against around 124,480 in 2010 (Table 1)

Table 1. Persons employed in cultural industries according to the Labour Force Survey, variables TOL 2008

TOL 2008 Year
2010 2011 2012
Publishing 16,611 17,167 17,238
Advertising 12,738 10,431 10,414
Artistic and literary creation 15,739 18,604 18,300
Libraries and archives and Museums activities and preservation of historical sites and buildings 11,966 13,983 13,199
Other industries 67,428 61,396 58,717

Employment dropped most in advertising, by around 2,300 employed persons. Employment in advertising was in 2012 only about 10,400.

Among other cultural activities, artistic and literary creation in turn increased. When in 2010 the number of employed persons was around 15,700, the number of employed persons was already about 18,300 in 2012.

Libraries, archives, museums and other cultural activities and operation of historical sites and buildings and similar visitor attractions employed better in 2012 than in 2010.The number of employed persons went up by 1,200 and was 13,200 at the end of 2012.

Publishing employed around 17,230 persons in 2012, while in 2010 this figure was about 16,610.

Other cultural activities dropped by an average of 13 per cent from 2010 to 2012, when they employed around 58,700 persons.

The industrial classification used in the Standard Industrial Classification 2008, whose data are not comparable with the employment data produced with the Standard Industrial Classification 2002.

However, the development of employment in cultural occupations has been better than that of total employment. From 2005, it has improved by over 15 per cent and the number of employed persons in 2012 was more than 83,000. Growth from the previous year amounted to over two per cent. During the corresponding period, total employment has improved by just around 3.4 per cent (Table 2).

Table 2. Employment in cultural occupations

Occupation Year
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
In artistic occupations 10,865 11,296 11,427 12,238 12,499 12,392 11,974 11,718
Graphic, art and craft designers and related artists 8,015 9,110 10,532 11,968 12,214 12,446 12,446 10,449
Journalists 14,396 13,972 12,798 13,931 13,853 13,926 14,001 13,718
Other occupations 38,919 40,417 40,444 39,479 37,559 39,847 43,304 47,577
Total 72,195 74,795 75,201 77,616 76,125 78,611 81,725 83,463

The development has been particularly favourable for graphic, art and craft designers, whose employment has improved by around 30 per cent from 2005. However, employment has dropped considerably from 2011 to 2012, by around 16 per cent. The number of employed persons in 2012 was approximately 10,450

Employment of those with artistic occupations has also improved from 2005. In 2012, the number of employed persons was around 11,718, which was eight per cent more than in 2005.

The number of journalists was in 2012 around 13,718, nearly five per cent fewer than in 2005. Their number fell by a couple of per cent from 2011 to 2012.

Data on employment figures in occupations are produced with the Classification of Occupations, although a new Classification of Occupations is used in the Labour Force Survey. By using an older classification, we have been able to examine a longer period than by adopting the new classification.


Source: Cultural statistics 2012, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Kaisa Weckström 09 1734 2348, kulttuuri.tilastokeskus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Riitta Harala


Updated 23.8.2013

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Culture [e-publication].
ISSN=2341-7404. Cultural Employment in Finland 2012, 1. Persons employed in cultural occupations according to the Labour Force Survey . Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 29.3.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/klt/2012/01/klt_2012_01_2013-08-23_kat_001_en.html