According to the 'Digital 2023 Finland' research report by media monitoring software company Meltwater and We Are Social, nearly 98 percent of Finns use the internet, and over 83 percent use social media channels. The speeds of mobile connections have grown by almost 34 percent over the last year, and fixed connection speeds have increased by almost 10 percent.
The report shows that Finland continues to be at the forefront of digital development compared to many other countries
when considering various measures such as digitalization trends, device numbers, internet connections, digital services, and digital behavior in Finnish society. It is also essential to consider factors such as the population's age structure and the degree of urbanization while evaluating digitalization.
"Meltwater's Sales Director Juri Volama said, "This report shows how trends related to digitalization, device numbers, internet connections, digital services, and digital behavior can provide insights about the Finnish population's demographic structure and urbanization trends."
Data released by Ookla demonstrates that mobile internet speeds in Finland increased by almost 34 percent in 2022, reaching 21 megabits. In January 2023, the average mobile internet speed was 83.6 megabits, while fixed connection speeds averaged at 94.4 megabits, having also grown by almost 10 percent over the year.
According to the Digital Finland 2023 report (January 2023):
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Finland has 5.41 million internet users, representing 97.7% of Finland's total population of 5.54 million people. There are slightly fewer men (49.4%) than women (50.6%) in Finland. (Source: Kepios Analysis)
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Finland has 9.45 million active mobile subscriptions, representing 170.4% of the population. (Source: GSMA Intelligence)
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Internet connection speeds have grown in 2022, with mobile connections growing by 33.6% (21 megabits) and fixed connections by 9.6%.
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4.1 million Finns made online purchases, with online purchases of groceries increasing the most. (Source: Statista Digital Market Outlook)
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There are already 534,500 smart devices in Finnish homes. (Source: Statista Digital Market Outlook)
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More than 93% of all searches in Finland are made using Google. (Source: Google Trends)
The importance of social media is growing
The number of social media users and potentially reachable users through different channels are based on data from various channels such as Meta, Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, and ByteDance's advertising planning tools and assessments made based on them.
"More than 83 percent of all Finns use at least one social media channel. Women use Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Facebook Messenger, and particularly Pinterest more actively than men. Twitter is a far more popular channel among men than women. The group that can be reached through TikTok has grown by more than 18% over the last year, while Snapchat's growth rate is more than 32%," says Volama. "Social media channels are becoming more and more important in digitalized society, businesses, and services."
Finland's position at the forefront of digital development is impressive, and the growth in internet connection speeds and the increasing importance of social media channels is excellent news for Finnish businesses and individuals. As the importance of digital technologies continues to grow globally, Finland is well-positioned to take advantage of the opportunities offered by digitalization.
HT
