4/8/2022

Finland is the most popular Nordic country for hosting international congresses, according to the annual meetings statistics report*, published by the Union of International Associations in June. Finland ranks number 15, the top three countries being USA, South Korea and Japan. The Finnish capital Helsinki takes the 13th spot in the city ranking.

In June, Union of International Associations (UIA) published the 63rd edition of the International Meetings Statistics Report, which presents comparative tables on the international meetings of international organizations in 2021. 

In the 2021 ranking of the most popular congress destinations, Finland ranks number 15 in the global comparison. The other Nordic countries also prosper in the comparison: Norway reaching the 18th place, Denmark on the 19th position and Sweden ranking 20th. In the category of most popular congress cities, Helsinki took the 13th spot and shares position as the most popular congress city in the Nordics together with Copenhagen. Stockholm ranks number 21, and Oslo is ranked 25th. The report includes data from 141 countries and 1034 cities.

“Finland has ranked among the top 20 most popular congress destinations for many years in a row. Our reputation as a functional and reliable host country, as well as leading universities, specialised hospitals and research institutes help attract international congresses to Finland”, says Ines Antti-Poika, the head of Finland Convention Bureau.

There are plenty of confirmed association meetings and congresses for Finland for the upcoming years, which brings confidence to the future. EAA 2023 - European Accounting Association will take place in Espoo in May 2023 and it is expected to attract 1000 participants. Turku University will host ECDP 2023 - European Conference on Developmental Psychology in August 2023. The conference is the main event in the field of developmental psychology, and it has not been organised in Finland before. The event will bring over 1,000 psychology researchers to Turku. Helsinki will host several large medical meetings, like EAPC 2024 - Congress of the European Association for Palliative Care (3000 delegates in June 2024) and ICN 2025 - Congress of the International Council of Nurses (8000 participants in June 2025). Other university cities in Finland have also won bids for future meetings in several fields of research in their respective cities.

According to the report, about 5700 international association meetings took place in 2021. The report does not include corporate meetings or other corporate events. Since 1960, UIA has prepared statistics on the international meetings that have taken place worldwide in the preceding year.

* UIA.org / 63rd International Meetings Statistics Report, June 2022