DNA’s Statistics: How Different Age Groups in Finland’s 50 Largest Municipalities Use Mobile Phones

Young adults remain heavy users of mobile internet. People aged 18–29 use clearly the most mobile data in all municipalities, but older age groups have caught up: for example, those aged 50–59 already consume more than 1,000 MB of data per day in all municipalities examined. Nationwide, 18–29-year-olds use an average of 2,975 MB per day, those in their thirties 1,758 MB, forties 1,523 MB, and fifties 1,309 MB. Data usage drops significantly among people in their sixties, seventies, and eighties.

“If we look back a couple of years, the relative differences have narrowed among people in their thirties, forties, and fifties as data volumes have grown. Users can now roughly be divided into three groups. Clearly in first place are young adults, who may still be studying or just starting their careers. The second group consists of working-age people around middle age. The third group, with much smaller mobile data volumes, are those approaching or already past retirement age,” summarizes Mikko Valtonen, DNA’s Vice President of Mobile Business.

However, there are significant differences between municipalities. For example, Raahe, Savonlinna, Kotka, Tornio, and Imatra are clearly at the top for young people’s data usage, with all exceeding 3,700 MB per day. Young residents of Kajaani, Riihimäki, Joensuu, Rovaniemi, Mikkeli, Kouvola, and Hämeenlinna also use considerably more data than the average across the 50 largest municipalities. In contrast, young people in Ylöjärvi, Vihti, Tuusula, Kangasala, and Sastamala fall below the national average.

“An interesting observation is that Finland’s overall average ranks at the bottom of the list of the 50 largest municipalities in every age group. This suggests that people in larger municipalities typically use more mobile data than the national average,” Valtonen notes.

Rovaniemi, Vantaa, and Tampere Lead – Several Possible Reasons for Municipal Differences

The top three municipalities in terms of mobile data usage among the 50 largest are Rovaniemi, Vantaa and Tampere. The least mobile internet is used in Hollola, Sastamala and Kokkola. According to DNA’s Valtonen, there is no single factor that explains the differences between municipalities. However, reasons can be found in factors such as long distances, availability of public transport, the age distribution of residents, or where their relatives and friends live.

“The age distribution of residents has a big impact. Young people use significantly more data than older people, so a relatively larger number of young people raises the municipality’s average data usage. Among students and young adults, it’s also common that they don’t have a fixed home internet connection at all, and everything is done via mobile phone or by sharing the phone’s internet to computers or other devices. The amount of public transport use also matters. If you spend your commute sitting on a bus or metro, you have much more time to browse your phone than behind the wheel of a car,” Valtonen explains.

“In addition, residents’ background factors play a role. People with relatives or friends in other countries may want to stay in touch with their loved ones far away through video calls. The same applies within Finland if loved ones live far away and are rarely seen otherwise. This increases mobile data consumption, as especially calls between different countries are often made over data networks using apps like WhatsApp or Signal,” Valtonen reflects.

Several Municipalities Stand Out

In many municipalities, certain age groups clearly differ from the average. For example, in Imatra and Raahe, people in their thirties use exceptionally large amounts of data. Among those in their forties, Raahe, Imatra, Tornio, and Rovaniemi stand out, while in Pirkkala, the same age group uses exceptionally little mobile internet. Among people in their fifties, no particular municipalities stand out for high usage, but Raisio shows exceptionally low usage. Among those in their sixties, variation is quite large, with Imatra, Rovaniemi, and Porvoo leading, while Kokkola and Seinäjoki show the lowest usage.

For people in their seventies, the top municipalities for mobile data usage are Rovaniemi, Mäntsälä, Riihimäki, Kerava, Helsinki, Nurmijärvi, and Imatra, while Raisio and Hollola show the lowest usage. As in all age groups, mobile internet use among those over 80 has increased annually—and relatively the fastest. In Riihimäki, Kerava, and Lempäälä, people over 80 appear exceptionally active, consuming 240–333 MB of mobile data per day. This is clearly more than the national average of 168 MB.

Average Usage Equals Long Video Viewing

What does Finland's average daily mobile data usage allow? Watching video on a smartphone for an hour may consume 700-3,000 MB depending on image quality, so 1,255 MB easily allows for extended viewing. Below is a list of indicative estimates of how much data various activities consume:

• Sending 50 emails without attachments: 1 MB
• Uploading a photo to social media: 3-8 MB
• Reading online newspapers for an hour: 100-200 MB
• Streaming music online for an hour: 100-200 MB
• Watching video on a smartphone for an hour: 700-3,000 MB

Figures are estimates of typical data consumption and vary significantly by user and service.

“As networks and devices evolve, services can also improve. This typically enhances the content experience, which in turn consumes more data. A better experience makes services more attractive. Even if you don’t spend more time on your smartphone, data consumption accelerates due to better image quality, as mobile screens have grown and become sharper. As a result, many tasks previously done on a computer are now handled on a phone,” Valtonen reminds.

How the Data Comparison Was Made

The comparison considered the average data consumption of DNA consumer customers only on billed subscriptions used in data-capable smartphones. Only subscriptions with the same owner and user were included. The comparison examines daily average usage per subscription from January to October 2025. It covered DNA customers living in Finland’s 50 largest municipalities. In addition, average data volumes were collected nationwide by age group. The comparison looked at total data volumes relative to the number of customers under selected criteria. It was impossible to identify individual network users or very small user groups.

Since the comparison was made between the 50 largest municipalities and nationwide averages, it cannot be ruled out that other municipalities might have even more distinctive user groups. The presented statistics are indicative, as limitations in data collection and possible recording errors in customer data may affect the figures. The comparison also does not include all residents of these municipalities if their billing address lists a locality that is not the official municipal name but, for example, a sub-area that was an independent municipality before a merger.

In the comparison, the averages of transferred data volumes have been used. Since customers’ data transfer amounts are not evenly distributed, average usage is typically higher than median usage. Most people therefore use less data than the average, while a small group uses a great deal. It’s also worth noting that the averages for all municipalities’ age groups may look unusual compared to age-specific figures because many young people may still have a phone plan paid by their parents, or many working-age individuals may have a company plan paid by their employer. However, the comparison only considers consumer plans owned by the user, which increases the weight of, for example, retired customers in the age group averages.

Finland’s 50 Largest Municipalities (June 2025): Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa, Oulu, Turku, Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Lahti, Pori, Joensuu, Kouvola, Lappeenranta, Vaasa, Hämeenlinna, Seinäjoki, Rovaniemi, Porvoo, Mikkeli, Salo, Kotka, Kokkola, Hyvinkää, Järvenpää, Lohja, Nurmijärvi, Tuusula, Kirkkonummi, Rauma, Kerava, Kaarina, Kajaani, Nokia, Kangasala, Ylöjärvi, Savonlinna, Vihti, Riihimäki, Raasepori, Raisio, Lempäälä, Imatra, Raahe, Sastamala, Sipoo, Hollola, Siilinjärvi, Pirkkala, Mäntsälä, Tornio.

Average daily data usage (MB) in mobile subscriptions by age group and municipality, 1–10/2025, for DNA’s billed mobile phone subscriptions across Finland’s 50 largest municipalities by population

 

Town/age	18–29	30–39	40–49	50–59	60–69	70–79	over 80	All
Helsinki	2 751	1 794	1 473	1 357	845	418	192	1 377
Espoo	2 720	1 680	1 412	1 430	804	354	197	1 369
Tampere	2 783	1 841	1 503	1 252	730	379	163	1 448
Vantaa	3 008	1 891	1 645	1 476	808	393	201	1 545
Oulu	2 866	1 638	1 397	1 231	650	335	146	1 268
Turku	2 683	1 834	1 604	1 340	748	355	171	1 364
Jyväskylä	3 027	1 747	1 487	1 322	731	344	156	1 423
Kuopio	2 928	1 641	1 392	1 195	631	342	152	1 185
Lahti	3 057	1 741	1 458	1 213	667	315	145	1 146
Pori	3 149	1 722	1 670	1 306	647	326	145	1 172
Joensuu	3 354	1 798	1 597	1 273	757	384	147	1 414
Kouvola	3 263	1 898	1 650	1 457	670	388	154	1 244
Lappeenranta	3 200	1 797	1 527	1 335	721	370	148	1 320
Vaasa	3 055	1 844	1 483	1 204	733	343	186	1 321
Hämeenlinna	3 216	1 901	1 542	1 385	812	355	170	1 311
Seinäjoki	3 036	1 669	1 487	1 186	590	341	125	1 233
Rovaniemi	3 340	1 908	1 782	1 459	895	442	219	1 573
Porvoo	3 019	1 841	1 593	1 344	871	387	147	1 296
Mikkeli	3 305	1 741	1 620	1 365	699	335	193	1 214
Salo	3 167	1 767	1 567	1 275	696	357	157	1 081
Kotka	3 778	1 971	1 632	1 329	717	391	212	1 248
Kokkola	3 075	1 744	1 627	1 276	536	339	207	920
Hyvinkää	3 021	1 915	1 582	1 355	817	368	175	1 333
Järvenpää	2 722	1 630	1 408	1 376	753	391	189	1 271
Lohja	3 042	1 668	1 492	1 221	655	349	145	1 080
Nurmijärvi	2 644	1 584	1 434	1 324	856	418	169	1 303
Tuusula	2 630	1 562	1 472	1 410	817	385	202	1 292
Kirkkonummi	2 891	1 608	1 349	1 383	823	365	116	1 303
Rauma	3 041	1 786	1 531	1 163	660	313	155	1 052
Kerava	3 070	1 846	1 618	1 367	745	434	276	1 409
Kaarina	2 887	1 582	1 381	1 177	633	344	135	1 107
Kajaani	3 427	1 896	1 564	1 224	656	377	175	1 224
Nokia	2 737	1 525	1 457	1 291	697	364	154	1 153
Kangasala	2 631	1 528	1 347	1 295	703	315	169	1 114
Ylöjärvi	2 472	1 370	1 502	1 346	752	343	182	1 147
Savonlinna	3 916	1 964	1 620	1 337	753	378	167	1 134
Vihti	2 651	1 361	1 390	1 373	729	338	138	1 161
Riihimäki	3 395	1 905	1 519	1 418	664	436	333	1 325
Raasepori	2 848	1 891	1 526	1 346	653	330	175	1 128
Raisio	3 046	1 529	1 454	1 071	609	285	164	1 001
Lempäälä	2 678	1 427	1 372	1 322	668	339	240	1 169
Imatra	3 742	2 289	1 779	1 429	932	415	187	1 397
Raahe	4 015	2 107	1 741	1 370	629	323	150	1 200
Sastamala	2 675	1 631	1 310	1 210	664	367	175	945
Sipoo	2 706	1 545	1 463	1 473	777	376	195	1 282
Hollola	2 656	1 478	1 432	1 177	674	293	162	997
Siilinjärvi	2 861	1 561	1 393	1 147	670	323	144	1 062
Pirkkala	3 046	1 366	1 241	1 458	606	335	112	1 233
Mäntsälä	2 712	1 670	1 495	1 469	704	439	160	1 294
Tornio	3 763	1 677	1 893	1 392	747	356	185	1 409
Whole Finland	2 975	1 758	1 523	1 309	697	354	168	1 255

 

Additional information for media:

Mikko Valtonen, VP, Mobile Business, DNA Plc, tel. +358 (0) 44 044 5290, mikko.valtonen@dna.fi
DNA Corporate Communications, tel. +358 (0) 44 044 8000, communications@dna.fi