Statistics on the emergency number 112
Number of emergency calls at a low point
In 2025, an average of 7,300 emergency calls were made to the emergency number every day. The number of assignments relayed to authorities took an upward turn.
In 2025, the total number of emergency calls was the lowest in the past two decades. The Emergency Response Centre Agency processed approximately 2,653,000 emergency calls last year (2,793,000 calls in 2024). The calls were picked up in an average of 6 seconds, a slight improvement compared to the year before (7 seconds).
According to Emma Paasonen, quality manager at the Emergency Response Centre Agency, the statistics imply that people recognise emergencies better than before.
“This is shown in the number of tasks passed on to the authorities in relation to the number of emergency calls. Even though the total number of emergency calls has decreased, the share of tasks passed on to the authorities increased by approximately 2 percent. In addition, the number of false calls has decreased significantly since 2020. Put together, these things indicate that people are increasingly aware of how to use the emergency number in the right situations.”
A total of 505,000 false calls were received in 2025 (568,500). Of these, 29,000 (29,680) were inappropriate or malicious calls.
Emergency SMSs mostly false
The use of the emergency SMS service intended for people with impaired hearing or speech increased significantly last year, but most of the messages were false. A total of 23,900 SMSs were sent in 2025, which is more than three times the number sent in 2024 (7,390).
According to Paasonen, the change is due to the ending of the registration requirement, which means that anyone can now send an emergency SMS.
“In June 2025, the requirement to register for the use of the emergency SMS service was removed from the Finnish Act on Emergency Response Centre Operations. Since then, the use of the emergency SMS service has been open to everyone. The change is related to the European Accessibility Act, which aims to provide persons with speech and hearing impairments with a more accessible service.”
Half of calls lead to relaying an assignment
Approximately 1,384,720 assignments were relayed to the authorities based on emergency calls. The distribution of the assignments to the various authorities was as follows: prehospital medical care 50%, police 37%, social and crisis emergency services 7%, rescue and other authorities 6%.
According to Paasonen, approximately half of all emergency calls did not lead to an assignment to the authorities.
“By conducting a professional risk assessment, the ERC operator may find that a given situation does not require authorities to be deployed. In such cases, the ERC operator can instruct the caller on the phone and provide instructions for solving the situation through their own actions.”
Growth of foreign-language population reflected in emergency calls
The number of emergency calls which require an interpreter continues to grow. In 2025, 1,844 emergency calls were interpreted (1,469).
Interpretation was provided in a total of 41 languages (37). Most of the interpreted foreign-language calls were made in Russian (710), Ukrainian (594) and Arabic (214).
The number increased significantly during the war in Ukraine.
