Cash-strapped wellbeing services counties are seeking savings across the board, including in emergency care. In some areas, this translates to fewer ambulances or reduced on-call hours, reports rural oriented newspaper Maaseudun Tulevaisuus.
According to MT, some emergency units in Central Uusimaa are functioning with reduced services and there are fewer nighttime ambulance services in parts of Southwest Finland.
All welfare areas are likely seeking savings opportunities in emergency services, according to Juha Hyötyläinen, chair of the Finnish Association of Paramedics and A&E Nursing Professionals.
"I can't provide exact numbers, but in some areas, there are concrete plans to reduce the number of units. Additionally, units currently on 24/7 immediate standby may be downgraded to daytime-only units," Hyötyläinen said.
Savings are also planned in different regions by converting some existing ambulances into single-paramedic units that could used for non-urgent paramedic tasks.
"Support operations will surely need to continue, but the core purpose of emergency care must not be compromised," Hyötyläinen said.
The government requires Finland's wellbeing services counties to cover a nearly 1.4 billion euro deficit by the end of 2026.
EV owners to shell out more
Minister of Transport and Communication Lulu Ranne (Finns) is calling for a fuel-neutral car taxation arrangement which would mean significant increase in vehicle taxes for electric vehicle (EV) owners, reports business daily Kauppalehti.
KL reports that the rise in low-emission vehicles has reduced state tax revenues, with Ranne stating that the government cannot afford further declines in tax income.
Ranne has said that she doesn't believe the additional tax will prompt significant backlash from EV owners.
"If you can afford to buy an electric car, you can also afford to pay a little more in taxes," Ranne said in an interview with tech periodical Tekniikka&Talous.
In November 2024, the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Ministry of Finance initiated government-led project aimed at comprehensive traffic taxation and financing reform
According to Ranne, the additional revenue could also be used to partially reduce the road maintenance backlog.
The finance ministry, led by Finns Party chair Riikka Purra, is planning to increase the vehicle tax by some 35 million euros in 2026, mainly targeting EVs and plug-in hybrids.
Turku's population boom
Turku's population growth continues to set records, growing more last year than it has since 1972, reports tabloid Ilta-Sanomat.
According to preliminary data from Statistics Finland, Turku’s population grew by 4,170 people, indicating a 2.1 percent increase from the previous year. Currently, Turku has a population of 206,035.
Last year, Turku was the only major city where population growth surpassed the previous year's level.
Its population growth was driven by both domestic and international migration, a trend that has continued since 2018. At the same time, Turku has seen more deaths than births since 2017.
About 36 percent of the influx came from within Finland, while 64 percent arrived from abroad. The domestic migration surplus reached its highest point in about 30 years.
The largest group of immigrants to Turku was people aged 20–39, which the labour market considers an ideal demographic. About a quarter of the foreign arrivals came from Nordic countries or the EU.
By the end of last year, 16.7 percent of Turku's residents spoke a language other than Finnish or Swedish.
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