Income of the richest Finns grew three times that of the poorest

The wage gap between those who earn more and those who receive less for their work is also increasing in Finland. 

And it is not just a growth of a few tenths: the incomes of the richest grow three times that of the poor.

According to Statistics Finland's income distribution figures, in 2018 income differentials further grew compared with the previous year.

Data show real income increased in all income deciles, but more than three times for those with high incomes than for those with low incomes.

Thus, the income level of the population's highest-income decile rose by 3.4% in real terms from 2017 to 2018. In the same period, the income of medium income earners (deciles V to IX) increased by 1.5% and the incomes of the four lowest deciles only rose by 1%.

Differences at their lowest in the 1980s

Statistics of Finland defines the income decile as each of the segments in which the population is organized and divided into ten equal parts.

The first income decile (I) is the lowest-income decile and the tenth (X) is the highest. Each of these deciles comprises around half a million people.

In Finland, the income differentials were at their lowest in the mid-1980s, but started to grow fast at the end of the 1990s