In current prices, the median value of the economic standard, which is disposable income adjusted for household size, increased by 7 percent between 2022 and 2023. However, since the average inflation rate in 2023 was 8.5 percent, there was a real decrease in the economic standard of 1.4 percent. The standard also fell in 2022, which was the first time since the economic crisis of the 1990s. These two years of declines mean that the economic standard in 2023 is at the same level as in 2017.

Income inequality decreased slightly in 2023. The Gini coefficient, which is an overall measure of income inequality, fell from 0.324 in 2022 to 0.310. One explanation is that capital gains decreased in magnitude in 2023, both in terms of housing sales and securities. The economic standard excluding capital gains is more evenly distributed, with a Gini coefficient of 0.287, which is a small decrease compared to 2022. However, other capital income such as income interest increased between 2022 and 2023. The Gini excluding both capital gains and other capital income was 0.246 in 2023, which was unchanged compared to the previous year.

Fewer elderly people with low economic standard

At the same time as the economic standard has fallen, the proportion with a relatively low standard has decreased overall, from 13.6 percent in 2022 to 13.2 percent in 2023. This is the lowest proportion since 2008. Low economic standard refers to a standard that are lower than 60 percent of the median value for the entire population.

The lower proportion of people with low economic standard in the entire population is due to a large decrease among people over 64 years of age. In that group, the share was 10.2 percent in 2023, a decrease of 2.6 percentage points compared to the previous year. Compared to 2021, the decrease is almost 5 percentage points. Among persons 80 years and older, the share has decreased by over 9 percentage points in the last two years. There are therefore fewer elderly people with relatively low incomes than before. One explanation is that pensions and certain benefits for pensioners with low incomes were increased significantly in 2023.

In the large group of 20–64-year-olds, however, the share with a low economic standard increased to 12.8 percent. Among children and young people aged 0–19, the share with a low standard decreased marginally to 17 percent in 2023.