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Policy profile on 12 axes

How Finland Is Governed

Finland is a unitary state that scores 0.81 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 57% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty is abolished and same-sex marriage is legal. Below: the laws, institutions and public spending of Finland, scored on the same 12 axes as the test, with every indicator and source.

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Policy profile

The 12 axes, indicator by indicator

This profile describes the country's policy regime (laws, institutions and public spending) from published indices, not the views of its people or its current leaders. Data as of October 2026; each value shows its own year.

Ownership+0.40PublicPrivate4 indicators and sources
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): State controls major firms in several sectors beyond utilities (energy, banking, telecom, mining, transport) (2026). State majority or large minority owner in Fortum, Neste and others. Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Property Rights (0-100): 99.9 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Investment Freedom (0-100): 85 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Financial Freedom (0-100): 80 (2026). Source
Markets+0.50PlannedFree5 indicators and sources
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Business Freedom (0-100): 85.3 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Labor Freedom (0-100): 65.4 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Monetary Freedom (0-100): 80.3 (2026). Source
  • Regulatory Quality, estimate (-2.5 to 2.5): 1.63 (2025). Source
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): State controls major firms in several sectors beyond utilities (energy, banking, telecom, mining, transport) (2026). State majority or large minority owner in Fortum, Neste and others. Source
Welfare-0.80SharedSelf-reliant4 indicators and sources
  • General government total expenditure (% of GDP): 57.5 (2025). Source
  • Public social spending (% of GDP): 31.44 (2024). Source
  • Domestic general government health expenditure (% of GDP): 8.5 (2023). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Tax Burden (0-100): 68.4 (2026). Source
Authority-0.95DemocraticStrong leader2 indicators and sources
  • Liberal Democracy Index (0-1): 0.81 (2025). Source
  • Judicial constraints on the executive (0-1): 0.97 (2025). Source
Security-0.90LibertyOrder4 indicators and sources
  • Freedom in the World civil liberties score (0-60): 60 (2025). Source
  • World Press Freedom Index score (0-100): 86.22 (2026). Source
  • Death penalty status: Abolished for all crimes (2025). Source
  • Prison population per 100,000 people: 54 (2024). Source
Structure+0.15LocalCentral2 indicators and sources
  • Territorial form of the state: Unitary state (2025). Source
  • Strong elected regional governments index (0-1): 0.83 (2025). Source
Morality-0.85ProgressiveTraditional3 indicators and sources
  • Same-sex marriage law (0 marriage, 1 civil union or partnership, 2 no recognition, 3 constitutional or statutory ban): Same-sex marriage legal (2026). Source
  • Abortion law: On request (within a gestational limit) (2025). On request up to 12 weeks since the 2023 reform. Source
  • Women, Business and the Law: Legal Framework Index (0-100): 87.5 (2025). Source
Religion+0.45SecularReligious2 indicators and sources
  • Religion and the state: Established or official religion, or religious law in part of the territory or courts (2025). The Lutheran and Orthodox churches are national churches with status in public law. Source
  • Blasphemy or religious-insult law in force: In force (2025). Source
Technology-0.35EmbraceCaution3 indicators and sources
  • Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 3.09 (2023). Source
  • Nuclear power policy: Operating reactors, no new build under way (2025). Source
  • Genetically modified crop cultivation: None grown, no ban (2025). Source
Culture+0.10MulticulturalNational identity4 indicators and sources
  • International migrant stock (% of population): 9.16 (2024). Source
  • Citizenship by birth in the territory: None: citizenship by descent only (2025). Source
  • Residence required for ordinary naturalization (years; 0 = no ordinary route): 8 years (2025). Raised from five to eight years in October 2024. Source
  • Dual citizenship for naturalizing adults: Allowed (2025). Source
Trade-0.65GlobalProtected4 indicators and sources
  • Tariff rate, applied, weighted mean, all products (%): 1.33 (2022). Source
  • Tariff rate, applied, simple mean, all products (%): 1.95 (2022). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Trade Freedom (0-100): 79.4 (2026). Source
  • Trade (exports + imports) (% of GDP): 83.4 (2025). Source
Foreign policy-0.25CooperationStrength5 indicators and sources
  • Military expenditure (% of GDP): 2.57 (2025). Source
  • Military conscription: Universal compulsory service (2025). Source
  • Nuclear weapons status (0 none, 1 considers, 2 pursues, 3 possesses): No nuclear weapons program (2023). Source
  • Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: State party (2026). Source
  • Collective defense commitments: Integrated military alliance (NATO, a US mutual defense treaty, ANZUS, CSTO) (2026). Source

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Policy neighbours

Governed most like Finland

Every other country with a profile, tinted by how close its laws, institutions and public spending are to those of Finland on the same 12 axes. The percentage uses the 12 Axes match formula.

  1. 1Norway91%
  2. 2Denmark86%
  3. 3Spain85%
  4. 4United Kingdom84%
  5. 5Greece83%
Least similarIran38%
World map of countries by how similar their policy regime is to FinlandClosest: 1. Norway 91%, 2. Denmark 86%, 3. Spain 85%, 4. United Kingdom 84%, 5. Greece 83%, 6. Croatia 82%, 7. Portugal 82%, 8. Poland 81%, 9. Sweden 81%, 10. France 80%. Least similar: Iran 38%. Every country is in the list after the map.Finland
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FAQ

Finland: questions

How is Finland governed, on the 12 axes?

Finland is a unitary state that scores 0.81 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 57% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty is abolished and same-sex marriage is legal. Its policy regime leans furthest toward Democratic on Authority (-0.95), Liberty on Security (-0.90) and Progressive on Morality (-0.85), on a scale from -1 to +1.

Which countries are governed most like Finland?

On the same 12 axes, the closest policy regimes are Norway (91%), Denmark (86%) and Spain (85%). The furthest is Iran (38%). Matches use the same formula as the 12 Axes test.

Where does the data on Finland come from?

From 42 indicators dated 2022 to 2026, published by V-Dem, Freedom House, the Heritage Foundation, the IMF, the OECD, the World Bank, SIPRI, Reporters Without Borders, the World Prison Brief, UN DESA and others. Among them: a press freedom score of 86.2 out of 100 (RSF, 2026), 54 prisoners per 100,000 people (2024), military spending of 2.6% of GDP (SIPRI, 2025) and 9.2% of residents born abroad (UN DESA, 2024). Every value, year and source is listed in the profile above.

Does the profile describe what people in Finland think?

No. It describes the policy regime: laws, institutions and public spending. It does not measure public opinion or the speeches of the current government. To see which country is governed closest to your own views, take the 12 Axes test and open the country match on your result.

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