Statistics on the emergency number 112
In 2024, the Emergency Response Centre Agency received an average of 7,600 emergency calls every day. Of these calls, 1,600 should not have been made to the emergency response centre. Roughly one half of the calls were passed on to authorities while the other half were handled by the emergency response centre operator through guidance and advice. The average time in which an emergency call was picked up was seven seconds.
Last year, emergency response centres processed approximately 2,792,600 calls (3,030,600 in 2023).
“The total number of calls taken declined by eight per cent compared to the previous year. The decline was due to a fault occurring in Android phones in late 2023, which caused the phones to make automatic emergency calls. The fault was corrected in the same year,” says Quality Manager Emma Paasonen from the Emergency Response Centre Agency.
According to Paasonen, the development in the number of emergency calls has been variable over the past eight years. In 2020–2021, the number of calls declined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by an upward trend again in 2022. Over a period of review of seven years, the number of emergency calls was highest in 2023 and lowest in 2024.
Calls picked up in 7 seconds
The operations of emergency response centres are secured through a networked operating model e.g. during peak times. Ten per cent of emergency calls were processed by using the networked operating model (the same figure for 2023 was 13%), and 90% (87%) of emergency calls were processed by the caller’s primary emergency response centre. On average, emergency calls were picked up in seven seconds (four seconds in 2023).
“Emergency calls are automatically connected to the local emergency response centre, but after a certain waiting period, calls are automatically transferred to an available emergency response centre operator in another ERC,” Paasonen specifies.
Number of tasks passed on to prehospital emergency care services took a downward turn
Emergency calls led to 1,412,700 tasks passed on to authorities (1,501,100). The number of tasks passed on to authorities declined by six per cent compared to the previous year. Of the total tasks, 52% were passed on to prehospital emergency care services, 36% to the police and 7% to emergency social services. The remaining 5% were passed on to rescue and other authorities.
According to Paasonen, the decline in the number of tasks is explained by the reform of the guidelines for handling prehospital emergency care tasks by healthcare services, which took force in late 2023. The objective of the new guidelines was to ensure sufficient resources for prehospital emergency care. ERC operators pass on tasks in accordance with instructions provided by authorities.
Roughly half of all emergency calls did not lead to a task being passed on to an authority.
“By conducting a professional risk assessment, the ERC operator may find that a given situation does not require authorities to be deployed. In this event, the caller is instructed on whom they can contact or what they can do to resolve the situation at hand.”
Malicious emergency calls on the decline
The total number of false calls declined from the previous year. Emergency response centres received a total of approximately 568,500 (815,420 in 2023) false calls that did not fall within their duties. Of these false calls, malicious and inappropriate calls made up 29,680 (32,800).
“We are happy to report that the number of malicious and inappropriate calls has been declining throughout the entire seven-year period under review. The number remains high, however, and each unnecessary call may delay help to someone in real distress,” Paasonen says.
Record growth in number of interpreted calls
The number of interpreted emergency calls rose to a new high, as 1,469 emergency calls were interpreted in 2024. The number has grown steadily since 2020: 295 calls were interpreted in 2021, 575 calls in 2022 and 1,056 calls in 2023.
Interpretation was provided in a total of 37 languages. Most of the interpreted foreign-language calls were made in Russian (594), Ukrainian (371) and Arabic (193).
Customers very satisfied
A customer satisfaction survey conducted in autumn 2024 asked those who had called the emergency number to evaluate the service in four areas: speed of the emergency call being picked up, clarity of the instructions provided by the ERC operator, the service-mindedness of the ERC operator and the expertise of the ERC operator. The responders were asked to rate the service on a scale of 1–5 with 5 being very good and 1 being very poor.
According to Emma Paasonen, the speed of taking emergency calls was rated the highest with an average score of 4.52 (4.60 in 2021). The lowest, but still good, rating, was given to the expertise of the ERC operator: 4.34 (4.46 in 2021).
“Most of the respondents (93%) felt that they received the help that they needed. This sentiment was slightly higher than average among those calling in situations requiring prehospital emergency care (96%). Those calling in situations requiring prehospital emergency care were also more satisfied than average with how quickly their call was picked up,” Paasonen says.
The national 112 Day campaign week is celebrated on 10–16 February 2025. The week is centred around the European 112 Day on Tuesday 11 February.
