During the fourth quarter of 2018, the year-on-year increase in rents was 2.3 per cent. The rents of non-subsidised rental homes went up by an average of 2.3 per cent in the whole country, according to the latest figures published by Statistics Finland.
In the Greater Helsinki Area the rents of non-subsidised rental dwellings went up even more, by 2.5 per cent. In the rest of Finland, they increased by 2.2 per cent.
In the case of the rents of government subsidised dwellings, they rose by 2.4 per cent in the whole country. Compared to the previous quarter, the rents of non-subsidised homes increased by an average of 0.5 cent and the rents of government subsidised dwellings by 0.3 per cent.
This annual increase in the price of rents was much higher than that of real wages, with the consequent erosion of the purchasing power of households.
Wages and salaries
According to preliminary data published one day before by Statistics Finland, the nominal earnings of wage and salary earners rose by 2.2 per cent on average in October to December 2018 when compared to the respective period in 2017. However, real earnings rose just by 0.8 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year. This is because the rise in earnings level was faster than that in consumer prices.
Source: Statistics Finland
The above data derive from quarterly statistics on rents compiled by Statistics Finland. The rent statistics are based on interview data collected in connection with the Labour Force Survey and on the Population Register Centre’s Building and Dwelling Register.
