Adoptions: documentation of statistics

The statistical data include data related to adoptions, such as the adoption type (a one-parent or two-parent adoption) and whether an adoption takes place within or outside the family. The data on adopted children and adoptive parents cover population data such as age, gender, marital status, language, nationality, country of birth, the municipality of birth and the municipality of residence. These data accord with the date of the decision pertaining to an adoption. Background data on the biological parents of an adopted child are included if a biological parent has, at some point, belonged to Finland’s population.

The statistical unit is adoption. In the data, each individual has their own identifier which is used as a link to other individual-based data.

Adoptions confirmed with a decision of a court of law in Finland during the statistical year in which at least one of the adoptive parents has, according to the Population Information System, resided permanently in Finland at the time the decision was made.

Data in Finland are available on a countrywide level and according to various regional divisions based on Finland’s division into municipalities. 

The classification into regions and the statistical grouping of municipalities have been used since 1997. Prior to this, provinces were used instead of regions and forms of local government instead of the statistical grouping of municipalities. As of 1999, the statistics have used the regional division which entered into force at the beginning of the calendar year following the statistical year.

Data on adoptions since 1987 are available in the StatFin statistical database.

The number of adoptions.

The reference period of the statistics is a calendar year.

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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

The compilation of statistics is guided by the general act of the national statistical service, the Statistics Act (280/2004, amend. 361/2013). Only the necessary data that are not available from administrative data sources are collected from data suppliers. 

Statistics Finland’s task is to compile statistics and reports describing conditions in society. These also include population statistics, one set of which is statistics on adoptions. Statistics Finland’s Rules of Procedure valid at each time specify the compiler of population statistics.

The statistics are compiled according to the municipality of residence determined in accordance with the Municipality of Residence Act (201/1994) and the permanent place of residence there.

The data stored in the Population Information System are specified in the Act (21 August 2009/661) on the Population Information System and the certificate services of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. The rights of residence of foreign citizens are defined in the Aliens Act (301/2004). Statistics Finland and the Digital and Population Data Services Agency have made an agreement on the delivery of the relevant data.

Data on adoptions are available in the StatFin statistical database after the release. The data become public after they have been updated on the relevant websites. The data on adoptions are not delivered directly to other statistics authorities.

The statistical data on adoptions represent total data. The statistics on adoptions are based on data obtained from the Population Information System on a weekly basis. The Digital and Population Data Services Agency and the State Department of Åland maintain the Population Information System by recording the data they receive on population changes taking place among the population in the system. Information on decisions made by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency may be added to the data. Adoptions are confirmed by a court of law, which enters the details of adoptions in the Population Information System.

The data are collected annually.

Statistics Finland has obtained population data from the Population Information System maintained by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency and the State Department of Åland on a weekly basis since 1975. The disclosure of the data is based on the act on Statistics Finland’s status as the statistical authority.

The data are checked for double rows.

It is checked that the case has not appeared in the statistical data of earlier years.

Cases are compared against the data on interpersonal relations in other population data. If necessary, the details of a case are examined in the Population Information System’s direct access service.

The direct distributions of the variables are verified and the values of the variables are examined to check whether they accord with the classifications.

The logic of some variables is verified with cross-tabulation; for example, the marital statuses of adoptive parents must be logical in relation to one another.

The data include underlying variables which may contain missing or invalid values. The aim is to impute the data from other population data or the Population Information System. Cases are not imputed.

The statistics on adoptions represent total data. The data on adoptions are equal in quality to that of the Population Information System. With regard to the statistics on adoption, this means that all adoptions confirmed with a decision by a Finnish court of law, in which at least one of the adoptive parents has, according to the Population Information System, resided in Finland permanently at the time of the decision, end up in the register.

The Population Information System maintained by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency and the State Department of Åland can be considered very comprehensive in terms of individuals. For an individual to receive a personal identity code, they must be registered in the Population Information System. It is practically impossible to live in Finland without a personal identity code. Legal employment, the opening of a bank account, taking care of affairs with the authorities, etc. all require a personal identity code.

Since the discontinuation of yearly checking of domicile registers in 1989, the Population Information System has been maintained only by notifications of population changes. The Digital and Population Data Services Agency has requested Statistics Finland to carry out sample surveys on the correctness of address data. Around 11,000 persons were asked whether their address in the Population Information System is correct. In the latest survey, in 2012, the address of 98.9 per cent of the respondents was accurate.

In connection with municipal elections, returned notifications of voting sent to foreigners usually reveal around 1,000 persons who have moved from the country without giving notice and are thus still included in the Finnish population.

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Quality can be assessed by comparing the cases in the statistical data to the data contained by other population data on interpersonal relations.

Every year, Statistics Finland conducts statistical auditing that helps to ensure the quality of statistics.

The statistics on adoptions and their production process were audited in the autumn of 2018.

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.

The data are published approximately eight months after the reference period.

The data are almost invariably released on the target date, due to which there has been no time delay. If the release of statistical data is significantly delayed from the announced point of time, information about the delay is posted on Statistics Finland’s home page.

Due to data protection reasons, data on adoptions are only released on a countrywide level.

Data on adoptions since 1987 are available in the StatFin statistical database.

The data of the population statistics are used as basic data for population in the other statistics of Statistics Finland. Thus, different statistics of Statistics Finland are consistent with each other as regards population data.

The Finnish Adoption Board, which operates under the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira), publishes statistical data on determinations of the suitability to adopt. Statistics Finland’s statistics on adoptions depart from the figures of the Adoption Board to some degree, given that the definition of cases deemed fit for the statistics and the waiting period of cases differ slightly.

The statistics on adoptions from 1987 to 1996 also include changes that took place in orders of succession, although they only changed the qualities of an adoptive relationship and no actual adoptions occurred. As of 1997, the statistics on adoptions show only genuine adoptions.

An amendment to the act (391/2009), according to which a party to a registered partnership could adopt the other party’s child, entered into force in September 2009. By virtue of an amendment to the Marriage Act which took effect in March 2017 (156/2015), same-sex couples were able to marry and the registrations of registered partnerships ended. At the same time, joint adoption became possible for married same-sex couples.

The Maternity Act entered into force on 1 April 2019. Under the Maternity Act, for a child born to a female couple as a result of assisted fertility treatment the legal relationship with both parents can be confirmed before the child is born, and adoption within the family is not required.

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Statistics Finland's release calendar Future publications

Future publications of the statistics can be found on the page of the statistics at: Future publications of the statistics

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Unless otherwise stated, the final statistics on adoptions for a calendar year are completed in August of the following calendar year.

The release is published annually on the home page of the statistics.

The database tables of the statistics can be found in the StatFin database.

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In population statistics, the identification data of an individual are pseudonymised, that is, the data of a person can no longer be linked to a specific person without additional information.

In accordance with data protection practices, regional data dissemination complies with aggregation rules if a table includes variables defined as sensitive. In such cases, figures remaining below the limit value are not reported or divided into the classes of the sensitive variable.

According to the Statistics Act, data released for research use must be edited into a form from which statistical units cannot be identified directly or indirectly. In order to prevent indirect identification, the key variables in terms of identification must be edited using statistical data protection methods suitable for the situation. The most important data protection method is the disclosure of a sample rather than the total data. In addition to samples, the data limiting methods used by Statistics Finland include aggregating the classification of variables, removing variables and suppressing the variable values of a single unit.