Income inequality in Finland increased last year to its highest level since 2007, according to the results of a report published by Statistics Finland on Monday.
The coefficient that measures relative income inequality was calculated at just over 29 percent in 2021, which is 1.4 percentage points higher than the year before.
Digging deeper into the figures, Statistics Finland found that the average income in the highest-income decile of the population grew by 8.1 percent, while the income of those belonging to the lowest decile averaged at about the same level as in 2020
Meanwhile, people belonging to the middle-income group saw their earnings increase by an average of 1.5 percent last year.
Number of low-income earners increased
The report also found that the share of low-income earners increased in 2021, returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Last year, some 718,700 people were classed as low-income earners, which is 40,000 more than in 2020 but roughly the same as in 2019.
Low-income is defined by Eurostat as up to 60 percent of the median income. Last year, this figure was some 1,350 euros per month.
Statistics Finland further found that a total of 421,600 people in Finland were classed as long-term low income earners in 2021, meaning that their income had remained below the median figure for the past consecutive four years.
Some 241,000 people were reliant on basic income support in 2021.
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