Finland's overall corruption is relatively low, according to public opinion and global indexes and standards. The 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index released by Transparency International, which measures the perception of corruption in the public sector, scored Finland at 88 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, Finland ranked second among the 182 countries in the Index, where the country or countries ranked first are perceived to have the most honest public sector. Finland has ranked first, second or third every year since the current version of the Index was introduced in 2012. For comparison with 2025 worldwide scores, the best score was 89 (ranked 1), the average score was 42, and the worst score was 9 (ranked 181, in a two-way tie). For comparison with regional scores, the best score among Western European and European Union countries was 89, the average score was 64 and the worst score was 40.
According to a 2013 Transparency International survey, an overwhelming majority of people in Finland do not witness cases of corruption by public officials or institutions in their lifetime. Existing corruption tends to be structural, arising from a network of wealthy individuals who favor each other in business; private companies have no disclosure requirements. The few instances of corruption involving the government include decision-making in state investments,Report: Finland 'still has work to do' in addressing corruption yle 3.2.2014 political donations, and election funding. Non-traditional types of corruption in Finland (common globally) include tax evasion, gifts, hospitality, and conflicts of interest.
Agreements Finland signed in 2002 the European Council GRECO criminal law against bribery. Finland demanded two exceptions in bribery law that have been signed e.g. in neighbour lands Estonia and Sweden. In May 2019 exceptions were still not taken into force in Finnish criminal law against bribery.Lobbaamisen harmaa alue Jarno Liski, Suomen Kuvalehti 24.5.2019 page 9
Forms Elections A 2008 Transparency International report noted a remarkable lack of transparency in Finnish political finance,Vaalijohtaja: Vaalirahoituslain rikkominen melko yleistä YLE 15 May 2008 reinforcing demands for greater transparency; in 2007, the Groupe d'États Contre la Corruption (GRECO) stressed that corruption should be better noticed in election financing.Evaluation Report on Finland on Incriminations, Theme I, s. 21, GRECO 3–7.12.2007 The 2007 Finnish campaign finance scandal erupted the following spring, with nine government ministers and several members of parliament lacking transparency in their election-funding reports. Since the law had no penalties for false fund reporting by elected politicians, the conservative National Coalition Party and rural Centre Party have not demanded the resignations of the convicted politicians. According to the 2009 Act on Candidate Election Funding, presidential candidates, parliamentarians, and deputies must declare all funding for an election campaign; donors of over €1,500 must be named.
Public-sector jobs Two-thirds of state and municipal public servants are appointed from political parties, of which only five percent of Finnish citizens are members. Article 6 of the constitution of Finland states that everyone has an equal right to public jobs, and selection should be based on capability and expertise. The number of political appointments of public servants has been criticized as excessive,"Poliittiset virkanimitykset ovat suomalaista korruptiota" yle 13 January 2012 and the parties determine public-sector salaries.
Tax avoidance
Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen claimed to fight unreported employment or undeclared employment income but, according to Markku Hirvonen, resources and initiatives in Finland have been insufficient to reach this goal. Two hundred tax officers examined tax havens in Sweden in 2013; 100 officers worked in Denmark, 80 in Norway, and 10–20 in Finland. Although investigations of unreported employment income found Sweden €100 million in previously unpaid taxes, Finland found none. In Sweden, unlike Finland, all international transactions above 150,000 Swedish kronor (about €15,000) are required to be reported to tax officers.
According to Taloussanomat, Finland loses €320 million in annual taxes to tax havens.Suomesta veroparatiiseihin 320 miljoonaa vuodessa Taloussanomat 9.10.2013 The business watchdog organization Finnwatch reported that Finnish companies, including the nation's top 20 companies, have 438 subsidiaries in countries classified as tax havens.
Germany bought LGT Bank data from Heinrich Kieber in 2008. According to the data, about 20 Finns evaded taxes amounting to €50-60 million; this was the country's largest known tax avoidance case. All names have been kept secret, and authorities have been criticized for not doing enough to prosecute tax evaders.Kaikkien aikojen veronkiertotutkinta kuivui kokoon - varoja piilottaneet suomalaiset jäävät ilman rikosseuraamuksia yle 18.9.2013Supreme Court ruling hobbles Liechtenstein tax probe Yle 19.9.2013
Foreign accounts are legal if taxes are paid. Based on this data, the unpaid taxes on the accounts amounted to more than €10 million in 2013. According to a 21 September 2013 Helsingin Sanomat article, Liechtenstein banks held funds from Casimir Ehrnrooth (UPM). Ehrnrooth's family owns majority shares in companies such as YIT, Jaakko Pöyry, Guggenheim Helsinki Plan and Bertel Paulig, and owns a construction company in Turku.Bertel Pauligilla veroparatiisitili 9.10.2013 A9 Jorma Ollila and Kari Stadigh also have investments in Luxembourg.HS-raportti: Luxemburgin veroparatiisi Helsingin Sanomat 22.9.2013 B7-B10
In Finland, total collected annual taxes are €65 billion and the annual fiscal deficit is estimated at €4.6 to €7.7 billion. Unlike Sweden, the country has not fully determined how the tax gap should be assessed. According to Parliamentary Audit Committee chairperson Tuija Brax, "Sweden has been actively addressing this tax gap problem for some time".Billions in Finnish taxes remain uncollected yle 16.12.2013
Finnish tax authorities began investigating holdings in Liechtenstein in 2008, and 17 Finns paid additional taxes totaling €10 million. Taxpayers made reclamation in Administrative Court. The amount of unpaid taxes is estimated to be high, and decisions of this court are not made public. In two cases shown to reporters, the Administrative Court imposed a payment of about one percent (which conflicts with Tax Administration rules). The court's justification for a very low tax is unknown. In one case, funds sheltered from taxation amounted to €483,000 and the additional tax was €4,350. This extra taxation is paid as interest on the original amount. According to the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland, no other legal procedures are possible when collecting the hidden tax and its one-percent interest rate. Tax officers are untrained in legal issues.Liechtensteinin veronkiertojutussa on määrätty hyvin pieniä veronkorotuksia yle 16.12.2013
Money laundering The Helsinki District Court dropped charges in October 2019 in a suspected €135 million money laundering case through Finnish construction company bank accounts.Court drops all charges in €135m money laundering case YLE News 9.10.2019
Construction Finnish police investigated the financial irregularities of the Youth Foundation. In 2018, foundation chair Perttu Nousiainen received hundreds of thousands of euros from tax-haven firms into his personal accounts. Police suspect the building firm's managers of aggravated tax fraud and other offenses. The trust connected to the Youth Foundation funded Centre Party politicians, in conflict with the law.Youth Foundation CEO quits amid police probe YLE News 13.3.2018Nuorisosäätiön johtaja sai satoja tuhansia euroja veroparatiisiyhtiöiltä – poliisi selvittää, onko kyse lahjonnasta YLE 24.8.2016Vaalirahakohussa ryvettyneellä Nuorisosäätiöllä ja sen johdolla vaiettuja kiinteistöbisneksiä YLE 24.8.2016
An audit was conducted in 2012 of a Helsinki construction office, based on corruption concerns. The business works with YIT.Helsingin rakennusvirastosta erityistilintarkastus HS 16.5.2012 A11 Six people were arrested in May 2012 by an order from Helsinki District Court, investigating corruption in Helsinki building contracts. The detainees were suspected of accepting bribes. The public HKR-Rakennuttaja purchased services from the construction sector with a value of up to about €100 million per year. Fines may reach about €100,000 over several years.6 detained in Helsinki construction bribery probe yle 21 May 2012 Destia, a state-owned company that builds public roads, was investigated for alleged irregularities in January 2013.Destiassa epäillään törkeää kavallusta – kaksi epäillyistä päällikkötasolla HS
Former Espoo mayor Marketta Kokkonen and Olavi Louko, director of Espoo's Technical and Environment Services since 2001, were charged with bribery linked to major construction companies in 2010.Espoo Leaders Face Bribery Charges yle 13.07.2010Länsiväylä 1.6.2007, p. 6 Bribes were said to be paid from 2004 to 2008. The state ordered Louko to pay a fine of €7,500 .Loukon lahjustuomio pysyy yle 9.12.2013 On the Espoo board of directors, some Finns voted no confidence in LoukoEspoon johtokaksikko jatkaa tehtävässään yle 9.08.2010Board of Directors in 09.08.2010
In a Parliamentary Ombudsman investigation released in May 2013, Maija Saxlin said that museum director Janne Gallen-Kallela-Sirén was biased in his position on the Guggenheim Helsinki Plan.Oikeusasiamies: Gallen-Kallela-Sirén jäävi Guggenheim-valmistelussa Helsingin Sanomat 18 May 2013 According to Carl Gustaf Ehrnrooth, a major owner of construction companies (including YIT and Pöyry), Gallen-Kallela-Sirén made the proposal for the Guggenheim museum; he was a board member of a company majority-owned by C–G Ehrnrooth, and his wife also worked for the company.Ajatko alas Helsingin taidemuseota, Janne Gallen-Kallela-Sirén? HS 3.2.2012Carl Gustaf Ehrnrooth avasi oven Helsingin Guggenheim-hankkeelle 15 January 2012 When tax havens were criticised and Casimir Ehrnrooth's accounts made public, Helsinki politicians accepted a tax-haven-funded project. The 2007 Finnish campaign finance scandal bribery sentences were overturned in the Helsinki Court of Appeals in late June 2013.Kanerva's bribery sentence overturned yle 27 June 2013
In 2013, former Vantaa mayor Jukka Peltomäki was accused of receiving €500,000 from Forma Futura from 2006 to 2011. Forma Futura had planned buildings for VVO, NCC, YIT and Citycon.Puolen miljoonan lahjusepäily Helsingin Sanomat 2.10.2013 A16Vantaan Peltomäkeä epäillään törkeästä lahjonnasta HS 1.10.2013Peltomäen lähipiiriä epäillään rahanpesusta HS 1.10.2013Rikosoikeuden professori: Virkamiehen puolen miljoonan lahjusepäily on ainutkertainen HS 2.10.2013
Olkiluoto nuclear plant The Olkiluoto nuclear plant construction project has been accused of grey work; it was impossible to check foreign workers' employment documentation without prior notice. Controllers and police had no unannounced access to the area. After notice, employment circumstances were often changed; foreign workers often left the country before a criminal case was evaluated. The workforce was fluid, and employees were not registered for tax or other official registers.Tarkastajat haluavat sakotusoikeuden Olkiluodossa HS 11.10.20112 A
Youth Foundation