Helsinki Region ranks high in an international comparison of competitiveness
The Helsinki Region is markedly above average in competitiveness and innovation infrastructure, as revealed by international statistical data from 36 metropolitan regions worldwide.
The Helsinki Region is among the top ten in the share of R&D expenditure of GDP, the share of those with a higher degree of the entire workforce, and the share of knowledge-intensive services of all jobs.
Helsinki is ninth in the number of patent applications per capita among the regions. Areas for improvement include encouragement for entrepreneurship, where Helsinki places 31st, and the ease of market access, where Helsinki places 33rd.
In a domestic comparison, the sector producing business services was clearly larger in the Helsinki Region than elsewhere in the country. That sector produced nearly one-fifth of all output in the region in 2008, while the sector’s share of output in the rest of Finland was less than 10 percent. The share of R&D expenditure of GDP was 4.5 percent in the region. The top Finnish cities in R&D expenditure were Oulu (13.7%), Salo (9.2%) and Tampere (8.9%).
The comparison was conducted and has been published (in Finnish) by the City of Helsinki Urban Facts.
