Extensive situational picture of regional development 2020 updated – No major changes in the rankings

MDI has updated the Index of Regional Development which collates municipal development in the light of the latest statistics and compares employment, attractiveness, business, education, wellbeing and economic development with 17 statistical variables in the municipalities. Each municipality in Mainland Finland has its own index number.

Compared to the index in 2019, the top of the Regional Development index has remained unchanged. The top six are still Espoo, Sipoo, Pirkkala, Tuusula, Vantaa and Helsinki. Among these six, Pirkkala has however improved its ranking. Municipalities in the Helsinki, Tampere and Turku regions remain over-represented. The order of the top 10 has remained unchanged in cities with more than 100 000 inhabitants. In the group below however both Joensuu and Salo have risen in the rankings. All in all, the municipalities with the biggest rise and scores can be found among the smaller and sparsely populated municipalities. The relative development of scores has been strongest in several municipalities in Eastern and Northern Finland.

The Index of Regional Development and the statistics examined do not yet however include the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of scores, as for several variables the latest data published in 2020 and early 2021 do not yet cover 2020.