28.3.2024 valid documentation

Basic data of the statistics

Data description

The statistics on causes of death describe the causes of death of individuals residing permanently in Finland. The statistics have been produced since 1936. The statistics’ data sources are the data on deaths obtained from the Population Information System and death certificates written by doctors.

The data on causes of death carry great significance in the general information system describing the population's health. Data on causes of death are used extensively in medical research. Differences in the mortality of population groups, for example, are studied by combining the data with Statistics Finland's other data.

Investigations on the cause of death and the related procedures, including the production of statistics and the archiving of death certificates, are based on the Act (459/1973) and Decree (948/1973) on Investigating the Cause of Death. Commission Regulation (EC) No 328/2011 specifies the data on causes of death which each EU Member State must produce and deliver to the EU.

Statistics Finland maintains Finland’s death certificate archives. The archives contain the death certificates of Finnish residents as of 1936. The death certificates from 1936 to 1965 are located at the National Archives of Finland and death certificates more recent than them are archived at Statistics Finland.

Statistical population

The statistics on causes of death include all those who died during the statistical year in Finland or abroad whose municipality of residence was, at the time of their death, in Finland. The date of death and information on the municipality of residence are obtained from the Population Information System. The data also include any deceased who were residing in Finland temporarily, but they do not belong to the national statistical data. Stillbirths are not included in those who died during the statistical year; separate statistics on stillbirths are compiled.

Statistical unit

The statistical unit of the statistics on causes of death is a person. In the data, each person has their own identifier, which is used in combining data with other individual-based data.

Unit of measure

The unit of measure is the number of deaths.

Reference period

The reference period of statistics is a calendar year.

Reference area

The data of the statistics on causes of death are published on a countrywide level and by region. Data are also available on other regional levels.

Sector coverage

The statistics on causes of death include all those who died during the calendar year in Finland or abroad whose municipality of residence was, at the time of their death, in Finland. The data also include any deceased who were residing in Finland temporarily, even though they do not belong to the statistical population of the national statistics. Every year, the statistical data fall short of the death certificates of a few hundred individuals.

Time coverage

The statistical data pertaining to causes of death are produced annually and are completed by the end of the following year. The data are final and describe those who died during the calendar year and resided permanently in Finland. The statistics have been published since 1936. The data on causes of death are stored in the database as unit-level data as of 1969.

The data of death certificates received after the release of the statistics are not added to the statistics’ annual data; rather, they are only included in the research data and death certificate archives.

Frequency of dissemination

The final statistical data are released annually.

Concepts

Age-standardised mortality rate

The change in mortality is described with the comparative mortality figure (CMF), which is a ratio of the age-standardised mortality rate. The standardisation is necessary so that changes in mortality not due to the ageing of the population structure can be highlighted. The age-standardised mortality rate indicates the number of deaths per 100,000 persons of the mean population, when the age structure is kept calculatorily unchanged during the whole reference period. In the publication on cause of death statistics, the European standard population as defind by Eurostat in 2012 has been used as the standard population in calculating age-standardised mortality rates.

Alcohol-related causes of death

Alcohol-related diseases include all diseases in the classification of diseases that are caused by alcohol (categories F10, G312, G4051, G621, G721, I426, K292, K70, K852, K860, O354, P043, Q860 in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, ICD-10).

Accidental poisonings by alcohol are poisoning deaths caused by alcohol or a similar substitute (category X45).


Basis for an investigation of the cause of death

The basis for an investigation of the cause of death is the information on the death certificate. The basis in law for an investigation of the cause of death is the Act on the Investigation of the Cause of Death (1973/459)

Forensic autopsy:
Forensic autopsy is most often performed if death has occurred in such circumstances that police investigation is necessary in order to establish the cause of death. A forensic autopsy is performed at the request of police.

A police investigation will be conducted in following situations:
- If the deceased was not under a doctor's care during his/her latest illness, or
- If the death was caused by a crime, accident, suicide, poisoning, occupational disease or medical treatment or there is cause to suspect that the death was caused by such a reason, or
- If the death otherwise occurred unexpectedly.

Medical autopsy:
A medical autopsy can be performed:
- If the cause of death cannot be established from information on the deceased person during his/her lifetime and information related to the event of his/her death, and the deceased person was in the care of a doctor during his/her latest illness, and if an autopsy is necessary in the interest of public health and medical science,
- The next of kin or otherwise close person of the deceased requests it.

Thus, a medical autopsy is performed at the request of a physician or relatives of the deceased.

Other basis for investigating the cause of death:
The commonest other basis for an investigation of the cause of death is a clinical examination of the deceased and information on his/her latest illness or medical treatment.

Contributing cause of death

The contributing cause of death is recorded in the death certificate. The doctor will report in part II of the death certificate as contributing causes of death the reasons which have adversely affected the development of the condition leading to death and hence contributed to it. The contributing cause of death can be recognised from the data, but it is not used in the compilation of annual statistics.

Deaths

Persons permanently resident in Finland on the day of their death are recorded in the statistics as deaths. Data on deaths are obtained from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s Population Information System. The number of deaths may differ somewhat from each other in different statistics. The difference is due to the different compilation times of the statistics. The official number of deaths in Finland is derived from the deaths in the population statistics.

Drug-related deaths

In calculating drug-related deaths, use is made of a classification compiled by the EU's European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) (Selection B). According to it, cases where the underlying cause of death is drug psychosis, accidental poisoning, intentional poisoning, and poisoning by undetermined intent are calculated as drug-related deaths. Drugs included in the EMCDDA classification primarily refer to opioids and cannabis and its derivatives, other hallucinogens and psychostimulants suitable for abuse, such as amphetamine and its derivatives (The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, ICD-10: categories F110-F112, F120-F122, F140-F142, F150-F152, F160-F162, F190-F199, X41+T436, X42+T400-T409, X61+T436, X62+T400-T409, Y11+T436, Y12+T400-T409). The cases have been calculated in accordance with WHO's recommendation based on the substance judged as most influential. In many cases, it is a question of multiple substance poisoning where the person has also digested alcohol and/or psy-chopharmacons, for example.

Early neonatal mortality

Early neonatal mortality refers to the number of deaths during the first week of life relative to the live births during the statistical year.

General death rate

General death rate indicates the number of deaths per 1,000 or 100,000 persons of the mean population.

Immediate cause of death

Immediate cause of death refers to the disease, failure of injury whose symptoms cause the person to die. However, the actual mechanism of death, e.g. cardiac arrest, are not regarded as immediate causes of death. The immediate cause of death is recorded in the death certificate and saved in the statistical data files, but it is not used in the compilation of annual statistics.

Infant mortality

Infant mortality is calculated by dividing the number of deaths of infants under one year of age by the number of live births during the statistical year. Multiplying the result by 1,000 gives the figure in per mille.

Intermediate cause of death

Intermediate cause of death refers to the condition which leads from the underlying cause of death to the immediate cause of death. The intermediate cause of death is recorded in the death certificate and saved in the statistical data files, but it is not used in the compilation of annual statistics.

Ischaemic heart disease

Deaths from ischaemic heart diseases include deaths from coronary thrombosis and other ischaemic heart diseases (category 27 in the national classification of diseases with 54 categories; categories I20-I25 in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, ICD-10).

Late neonatal mortality

Late neonatal mortality refers to the number of deaths which occur at the age of 7 to 27 days relative to the live births during the statistical year.

Maternal mortality

Maternal mortality covers all deaths which occur during the pregnancy or during 42 days after the end of the pregnancy, regardless of the duration or location of the pregnancy. Included are all deaths of pregnant women due to any pregnancy related cause or a cause exacerbated by pregnancy, but not accidental or violent deaths. Maternal deaths are included in Chapter XV of the International Classification of Diseases. Maternal mortality is obtained by dividing the number of maternal deaths by 100,000 live-born children.

Neonatal mortality

Neonatal mortality is calculated by dividing the number of deaths during the first week of life by the number of live births during the statistical year and multiplying the result by 1,000.

Perinatal mortality

Perinatal mortality is calculated by dividing the number of stillbirths and deaths during the first week of life by the number of all births during the statistical year. The age during the first week is calculated in hours.

Stillborn

Stillbirths include a fetus or a newborn who shows no signs of life at the time of birth after a pregnancy lasting at least 22 weeks or the newborn weighs at least 500 grams. Miscarriages that occurred at an earlier stage of the pregnancy are not regarded as stillbirths and are not included in cause of death statistics.

Underlying cause of death

The underlying cause of death is the disease which has initiated the series of illnesses leading directly to death, or the circumstances connected with an accident or an act of violence which caused the injury or poisoning leading to death. The cause of death used in statistics (the so-called statistical underlying cause of death) is determined according to the selection and application rules of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) compiled by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Annual cause of death statistics are compiled according to the underlying cause of death.

Accuracy, reliability and timeliness

Overall accuracy

The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) is responsible for the inspection and supervision of death certificates. At Statistics Finland, the data in death certificates are compared with the Population Information System’s data on the deceased. THL is also informed of any missing death certificates for the purposes of its supervisory duties.

Given that the data on the death of deceased persons is obtained from the Population Information System, the coverage of the statistics on causes of death is practically nearly 100 per cent. Individuals declared legally dead are not included in the number of deceased in the statistics on causes of death. The statistics will lack the cause of death for some 100 to 400 individuals every year, because they cannot be provided with a death certificate. In 2022, the statistics lacked a death certificate in 439 deaths, corresponding to 0.7 per cent of all deaths.

A majority of the causes of death are based on clinical data, but autopsies play an important role in the quality assurance of causes of death. The proportion of autopsies in all deaths in Finland is the highest in the Nordic countries. The number of forensic autopsies in Finland has declined as of 2010. In 2022, autopsies were performed on 16,1 per cent of the deceased. Of these, 12,7 per cent were forensic autopsies, while 3,4 per cent were clinical autopsies.

Timeliness

The data pertaining to causes of death are produced annually and completed by the end of the following year. The statistics are published approximately 11 months after the end of the statistical year. The data are final and describe those who died during the previous calendar year and resided permanently in Finland.

Time lag - first results / TP1

There are no delays between the release calendar and the actual release date.

Punctuality

There are no delays between the release calendar and the actual release date.

Comparability

Comparability - geographical

The statistical cause of death is determined according to the selection and application rules of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) compiled by the World Health Organisation (WHO). A majority of the causes of death are based on clinical data, but autopsies play an important role in the quality assurance of causes of death. The proportion of autopsies in all deaths in Finland is the highest in the Nordic countries.

Comparability - over time

Data on causes of death have been coded in accordance with the ICD-10 disease classification since 1996. The disease classification is an international classification maintained by the World Health Organisation describing causes of death, diseases, accidents and the use of health services. The classification can be found on the WHO’s website. Causes of death are primarily coded at the most accurate level of the classification. The disease classification’s three-character level is used as the publication level.  In some cases specifying codes in accordance with Finland’s national disease classification are used. The Finnish version of ICD-10 is maintained by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). Statistics on causes of death are available from 1936 onwards. The data for the period between 1936 and 1968 can be found in table format in the publications of Statistics Finland (for example, doria.fi). Data on causes of death from 1969 onwards are available as a database. The cause-of-death classification used in the statistics has changed several times. Data on causes of death have been coded in accordance with the ICD-10 disease classification since 1996. From 1987 to 1995, the data were coded in accordance with the 1987 national disease classification, and from 1969 to 1986, in accordance with the international disease classification ICD-8.

To improve the comparability of the data on causes of death across different years, various classifications have been made in the data. The national time series classification (with 54 categories) includes data as of 1969. Eurostat’s 86-category European shortlist for causes of death 2012 classification is also in use from 1998 onwards. The three-character level of the ICD-10 classification and existing comparable time series classifications are described on the home pages of the statistics on causes of death, under Classifications.

Coherence - cross domain

The statistics on causes of death are the only comprehensive statistics on causes of death in Finland. Other statistics describing mortality or causes of death include Statistics Finland’s statistics on population changes, statistics on road traffic accidents and occupational accident statistics.

The data on deaths published in Statistics Finland’s statistics on population change represent comprehensive statistics on the number of deaths. The annual number of deaths differs from the number of deaths in the statistics on causes of death to some degree. The difference is mainly attributable to reports of deaths that are late for the statistics on population changes (those arriving after the end of January) being transferred to the statistics of the following year. Calculations on infant mortality in official contexts rely on the number of those who have died under one years of age in the statistics on population change.

The statistics on road traffic accidents produce statistics on the number of deaths in road traffic. The data are obtained from the information system of the police. The coverage of the data is reviewed with the help of the data in the statistics on causes of death. Occupational accident statistics are compiled on the basis of the data of insurance activities and the statistics include all fatalities at work for which insurance institutions have paid indemnity. In the statistics on causes of death, data on occupational accidents are obtained from death certificates.

Coherence - internal

The statistics on causes of death are the only comprehensive statistics on causes of death in Finland.

Source data and data collections

Source data

The source data of the statistics on causes of death consist of death certificates and the data of the Population Information System. The data from the Population Information System are updated into the database on a weekly basis. Statistics Finland’s data on stillbirths are supplemented with the data of the birth register maintained by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).

Data collection

The current death certificate form has been confirmed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
Death certificates are delivered to Statistics Finland by THL in either digital or hard-copy format. In 2021, approximately 14 per cent of death certificates were delivered in digital format. Death certificates in hard-copy format are scanned into image format at Statistics Finland and some data are read optically into the database.

Frequency of data collection

The statistics’ data collection is continuous.

Methods

Data compilation

The diagnostic texts and cause-of-death codes provided by doctors are converted to correspond with the international disease classification. The statistical cause of death is determined according to the selection and application rules of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) compiled by the World Health Organisation (WHO) List of Official ICD-10 updates (who.int) .

Data validation

The data of the statistics on causes of death are validated in many stages during the statistical process. Death certificates in hard-copy format are scanned into image format at Statistics Finland and some data are read optically into the database. The diagnostic texts and cause-of-death codes provided by doctors are checked. If the data on a death certificate are deficient, inconsistent or difficult to classify, coding occurs with the help of the death certificate’s event data or additional information is requested from a medical expert or the writer of the death certificate. When coding cases of poisoning, the research results from the register of forensic chemistry are often used as additional information. A medical expert handles around 500 cases every year. Additional information is requested from the writer of a death certificate in about 50 cases a year. The data are checked once more before publication by reviewing the key variables.

Principles and outlines

Contact organisation

Statistics Finland

Contact organisation unit

Social Statistics

Legal acts and other agreements

The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. The Statistics Act contains provisions on collection of data, processing of data and the obligation to provide data. Besides the Statistics Act, the Data Protection Act and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities are applied to processing of data when producing statistics. Statistics Finland compiles statistics in line with the EU’s regulations applicable to statistics, which steer the statistical agencies of all EU Member States. Further information: Statistical legislation

Confidentiality - policy

The data protection of data collected for statistical purposes is guaranteed in accordance with the requirements of the Statistics Act (280/2004), the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the Data Protection Act (1050/2018). The data materials are protected at all stages of processing with the necessary physical and technical solutions. Statistics Finland has compiled detailed directions and instructions for confidential processing of the data. Employees have access only to the data essential for their duties. The premises where unit-level data are processed are not accessible to outsiders. Members of the personnel have signed a pledge of secrecy upon entering the service. Violation of data protection is punishable. Further information: Data protection | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)

Confidentiality - data treatment

The data in individual death certificates is confidential (Section 15 of the Act on Investigating the Cause of Death 459/1973). The basic publications of the statistics on causes of death follow Statistics Finland's official guidelines on the protection of tabulated personal data based on the principles of statistical ethics and legislation. The most common way of protecting data in tabulated format which is in use in the statistics on causes of death is to make the classifications less detailed. When releasing data concerning the entire country, data are hidden due to a disclosure risk only at some points (such as the manner of suicide by age groups).   The provision of tabulated data on causes of death by municipality or areas smaller than a municipality usually require a licence.

Release policy

Statistics Finland publishes new statistical data at 8 am on weekdays in its web service. The release times of statistics are given in advance in the release calendar available in the web service. The data are public after they have been updated in the web service.

Further information: Publication principles for statistics at Statistics Finland

Data sharing

Statistics Finland delivers the data pursuant to the regulation to Eurostat. Eurostat publishes the data on its own website.

The data in the statistics on causes of death are published annually on the website of Statistics Finland and in the free of charge StatFin statistical database. The tables of the statistics on causes of death are produced according to the statistical underlying cause of death.

Statistics Finland also maintains Finland’s death certificate archives. The archives contain the death certificates of Finnish residents as of 1936. Death certificates from 1936 to 1965 are located at the National Archives of Finland. Death certificates more recent than these are archived at Statistics Finland. The documents related to investigations on the cause of death are confidential (Act on Investigating the Cause of Death 459/1973). Copies of death certificates and data on causes of death are nevertheless released from the archives for the purposes provided in the Act on Investigating the Cause of Death. These purposes primarily consist of disclosure to a deceased’s next of kin, pension institutions and the purposes of authorities. Data on death certificates may also be disclosed for scientific studies and statistical reviews (Act on the Openness of Government Activities 621/1999).

Other

Statistics Finland also maintains Finland’s death certificate archives. The archives contain the death certificates of Finnish residents as of 1936. Death certificates from 1936 to 1965 are located at the National Archives of Finland. Death certificates more recent than these are archived by Statistics Finland. The documents related to investigations on the cause of death are confidential (Act on Investigating the Cause of Death 459/1973). Copies of death certificates and data on causes of death are nevertheless released from the archives for the purposes provided in the Act on Investigating the Cause of Death (459/1973). These purposes primarily consist of disclosure to a deceased’s next of kin, pension institutions and the purposes of authorities. Instructions for applying for copies of death certificates can be found on Statistics Finland's web pages at: Archive of death certificate. For death certificates from 1936 to 1965, the data request should be made to the National Archives of Finland.

Accessibility and clarity

Statistical data are published as database tables in the StatFin database. The database is the primary publishing site of data, and new data are updated first there. When releasing statistical data, existing database tables can be updated with new data or completely new database tables can be published.

In addition to statistical data published in the StatFin database, a release on the key data is usually published in the web service. If the release contains data concerning several reference periods (e.g. monthly and annual data), a review bringing together these data is published in the web service. Database tables updated at the time of publication are listed both in the release and in the review. In some cases, statistical data can also be published as mere database releases in the StatFin database. No release or review is published in connection with these database releases.

Releases and database tables are published in three languages, in Finnish, Swedish and English. The language versions of releases may have more limited content than in Finnish. Information about changes in the publication schedules of releases and database tables and about corrections are given as change releases in the web service.

Micro-data access

Cause of death data are available as unit-level data from 1969 onwards. Tailored tables and research data can be made from the data at Statistics Finland to customer needs. A user licence is always needed for unit-level research data. The application for licence can be found on Statistics Finland's home page. Data on death certificates may also be released for scientific studies and statistical reviews (Act on the Openness of Government Activities 621/1999). Cause of death data can also be combined to other datasets by means of the person number (e.g. with population and employment statistics data). The compilation and handover of research data take place in accordance with the legislation governing statistics and the data protection and secrecy policies defined therein.

Data revision - policy

Revisions – i.e. improvements in the accuracy of statistical data already published – are a normal feature of statistical production and result in improved quality of statistics. The principle is that statistical data are based on the best available data and information concerning the statistical phenomenon. On the other hand, the revisions are communicated as transparently as possible in advance. Advance communication ensures that the users can prepare for the data revisions.

The reason why data in statistical releases become revised is often caused by the data becoming supplemented. Then the new, revised statistical figure is based on a wider information basis and describes the phenomenon more accurately than before.

Revisions of statistical data may also be caused by the calculation method used, such as annual benchmarking or updating of weight structures. Changes of base years and used classifications may also cause revisions to data.

Quality assessment

The producers of Official Statistics of Finland have approved a common quality assurance in which they commit to common quality criteria and quality assurance measures. The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice. The good practices followed in the statistics are presented in Statistics Finland’s Quality Guidelines for Official Statistics handbook.

A death certificate is written by the physician who pronounces the death. If the investigation of a cause of death requires an autopsy, the forensic pathologist draws up the death certificate once the data are completed. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) is responsible for the inspection and supervision of death certificates. The forensic pathologist of an area first inspects the accuracy of a certificate and then sends it to Statistics Finland. A health institution or doctor must also notify the Population Information System of a death. At Statistics Finland, the data in death certificates are compared with the Population Information System’s data on the deceased. THL is also informed of any missing death certificates for the purposes of its supervisory duties.

The diagnostic texts and cause-of-death codes provided by doctors are checked at Statistics Finland. The statistical cause of death is determined according to the selection and application rules of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) compiled by the World Health Organisation (WHO). If the data on a death certificate are deficient, inconsistent or difficult to classify, coding is made with the help of the death certificate’s event data or additional information is requested from a medical expert or the writer of the death certificate.  When coding cases of poisoning, the research results from the register of forensic chemistry are often used as additional information. A medical expert handles around 500 cases every year. Additional information is requested from the writer of a death certificate in about 50 cases a year. 

Given that the data on the death of deceased persons is obtained from the Population Information System, the coverage of the statistics on causes of death is practically nearly 100 per cent. Individuals declared legally dead are not included in the number of deceased in the statistics on causes of death.  The statistics will lack the cause of death for some 100 to 400 individuals every year, because they cannot be provided with a death certificate. In 2022, the statistics lacked a death certificate in 439 deaths, corresponding to 0.7 per cent of all deaths.

Quality assurance

Quality management requires comprehensive guidance of activities. The quality management framework of the field of statistics is the European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP). The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice.

Further information: Quality management | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)

User access

Data are released to all users at the same time. Statistical data may only be handled at Statistics Finland and information on them may be given before release only by persons involved in the production of the statistics concerned or who need the data of the statistics concerned in their own work before the data are published.


Further information: Publication principles for statistics

Unless otherwise separately stated in connection with the product, data or service concerned, Statistics Finland is the producer of the data and the owner of the copyright. The terms of use for statistical data.

Statistical experts

Airi Pajunen
Senior Statistician
029 551 3605

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