29.6.2023

Finland is the second 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 13, the top three countries being Belgium, USA and Spain. The Finnish capital Helsinki rose to the 11th spot in the city ranking.

In June, Union of International Associations (UIA) published the 64th edition of the International Meetings Statistics Report, which presents comparative tables on the international meetings of international organizations in 2022. 

In the ranking of the most popular congress destinations, Finland ranks number 13 in the global comparison. The other Nordic countries also do well in the comparison: Norway climbed to the 12th place, Sweden is on the 21st position and Denmark ranks 22nd. In the category of most popular congress cities, Helsinki took the 11th spot and is now the most popular congress city in the Nordics. Oslo ranks number 13, Copenhagen is ranked 16th and Stockholm 24th. The report includes data from 156 countries and 1213 cities.

There are plenty of confirmed association meetings and congresses for Finland for the upcoming years. 

NCGP 2024 - The 23rd Nordic Congress of General Practice will take place in Turku in June 2024 and it is expected to attract more than 1300 participants. ECCB2024 - The 22nd European Conference on Computational Biology, hosted by University of Turku and CSC - IT Center for Science, will also gather more that 1000 experts to Logomo in September.

Oulu University Hospital will host The Scandinavian Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine in June 2024. 1000 participants are expected to travel to Oulu to attend the meeting. In August 2024, the Finnish Ophthalmology Society will host the Nordic Congress of Ophthalmology NOK in Kuopio. Nearly 1000 delegates are expected to attend. 

Several large congresses, especially in the field of medical sciences, like The 2024 Congress of the European Academy of Neurology EAN, have been confirmed to Helsinki for the coming years. The European Public Health Conference EUPHA will be organised in Finlandia Hall in November 2024, and The Congress of the International Council of Nurses ICN will take place in Messukeskus in June 2025. 

For more upcoming congress in Finland, see our Congress Calendar. 

* UIA.org / 64th International Meetings Statistics Report, June 2023. 
According to the report, more than 8000 international association meetings took place in 2022. 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.