Colorectal cancer screening preliminary statistics 2025

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Latest annual statistics release

Screening programme overview

– These are the preliminary statistics of the colorectal cancer screening programme for screening year 2025. They include the data on the primary phase of colorectal cancer screening (participation and proportion of positives) submitted to the Finnish Cancer Registry by 10 October 2026.

– In 2025, the target population for colorectal cancer screening — individuals turning 60, 62, 64, 66, 68, 70 or 72 during the year — were invited. The programme was extended to 72-year-olds in 2025. Together with the invitation letter, a self-sampling kit for faecal immunochemical testing (FIT) was sent to all eligible individuals.

– 486,938 individuals were selected from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency database for a screening invitation, of whom 485,462 (99.7%) were sent an invitation by post. An invitation may not be sent, for example because of a missing address due to a non-disclosure order. Åland is not part of the national programme and is not included in these statistics.

– Approximately 73.3% of the 2025 target population returned the sampling kit. Of these, 4.8% had a blood content in their stool exceeding the positive test threshold (25 micrograms of blood per gram of stool). The small increase compared with the previous round (2024, 4.5%) is explained by the inclusion of 72-year-olds in the programme.

– The data on the complete screening chain, including treatment and further examinations, for those invited to screening in 2025 will be published in spring 2027.

Whole country

Screening process

2025

Sex	Picked	Attended		Test positives
	N	N	%	N	%
Men	236663	163094	68.9	9910	6.1
Women	250275	193957	77.5	7348	3.8
Total	486938	357051	73.3	17258	4.8

Age groups

2025

Age group	Sex	Picked	Attended		Test positives
		N	N	%	N	%
60	Men	35625	21927	61.5	1282	5.8
60	Women	35895	26525	73.9	931	3.5
60	Total	71520	48452	67.7	2213	4.6
62	Men	36145	22970	63.5	1197	5.2
62	Women	36864	27384	74.3	885	3.2
62	Total	73009	50354	69.0	2082	4.1
64	Men	34788	23450	67.4	1385	5.9
64	Women	36106	27663	76.6	881	3.2
64	Total	70894	51113	72.1	2266	4.4
66	Men	33574	23584	70.2	1394	5.9
66	Women	35416	27828	78.6	1061	3.8
66	Total	68990	51412	74.5	2455	4.8
68	Men	33057	23877	72.2	1447	6.1
68	Women	35455	28265	79.7	1172	4.1
68	Total	68512	52142	76.1	2619	5.0
70	Men	32552	24233	74.4	1635	6.7
70	Women	35702	28586	80.1	1185	4.1
70	Total	68254	52819	77.4	2820	5.3
72	Men	30922	23053	74.6	1570	6.8
72	Women	34837	27706	79.5	1233	4.5
72	Total	65759	50759	77.2	2803	5.5
Total	Total	486938	357051	73.3	17258	4.8

Positivity rate

2025

Population groups

Native language

2025

Native language	Sex	Picked	Attended		Test positives
		N	N	%	N	%
Domestic	Men	225798	157717	69.8	9608	6.1
Domestic	Women	237923	186743	78.5	7069	3.8
Domestic	Total	463721	344460	74.3	16677	4.8
Other/missing	Men	10865	5377	49.5	302	5.6
Other/missing	Women	12352	7214	58.4	279	3.9
Other/missing	Total	23217	12591	54.2	581	4.6
Total	Total	486938	357051	73.3	17258	4.8

Level of education

2025

Education	Sex	Picked	Attended		Test positives
		N	N	%	N	%
Primary education/unknown	Men	45906	26713	58.2	1991	7.5
Primary education/unknown	Women	34573	22606	65.4	1094	4.8
Primary education/unknown	Total	80479	49319	61.3	3085	6.3
Intermediate/secondary	Men	112475	76885	68.4	4943	6.4
Intermediate/secondary	Women	107225	82886	77.3	3392	4.1
Intermediate/secondary	Total	219700	159771	72.7	8335	5.2
Tertiary/higher education	Men	78282	59496	76.0	2976	5.0
Tertiary/higher education	Women	108477	88465	81.6	2862	3.2
Tertiary/higher education	Total	186759	147961	79.2	5838	3.9
Total	Total	486938	357051	73.3	17258	4.8

Region of birth

2025

Region of birth	Picked	Attended		Test positives
	N	N	%	N	%
Africa	1665	738	44.3	32	4.3
Oceania	94	58	61.7	2	3.4
Americas	877	493	56.2	16	3.2
Asia	4609	2637	57.2	125	4.7
Europe excl. Finland	16787	9585	57.1	428	4.5
Finland	462811	343484	74.2	16655	4.8
Unknown	95	56	58.9	0	0.0
Total	486938	357051	73.3	17258	4.8

Collaboration areas

Screening process

2025

Collaborative area	Picked	Attended		Test positives
	N	N	%	N	%
Eastern Finland	81982	62270	76.0	2980	4.8
Inland Finland	78959	58648	74.3	2887	4.9
Northern Finland	66954	49650	74.2	2491	5.0
Southern Finland	181820	129767	71.4	6062	4.7
Western Finland	77223	56716	73.4	2838	5.0
Total	486938	357051	73.3	17258	4.8

Participation rate

2025

Positivity rate

2025

Wellbeing services counties

Screening process

2025

Wellbeing service county	Picked	Attended		Test positives
	N	N	%	N	%
Central Finland	24796	18927	76.3	859	4.5
Central Ostrobothnia	5932	4314	72.7	190	4.4
Central Uusimaa	17684	12858	72.7	626	4.9
City of Helsinki	47826	33136	69.3	1485	4.5
East Uusimaa	9289	6629	71.4	312	4.7
Kainuu	8093	6120	75.6	338	5.5
Kanta-Häme	16891	12467	73.8	615	4.9
Kymenlaakso	16858	11654	69.1	611	5.2
Lapland	18743	13689	73.0	748	5.5
North Karelia	17287	13136	76.0	622	4.7
North Ostrobothnia	34186	25527	74.7	1215	4.8
North Savo	24901	18740	75.3	942	5.0
Ostrobothnia	14280	10764	75.4	498	4.6
Pirkanmaa	43801	32749	74.8	1572	4.8
Päijät-Häme	20154	15156	75.2	707	4.7
Satakunta	20650	15145	73.3	812	5.4
South Karelia	12756	9302	72.9	484	5.2
South Ostrobothnia	18267	13432	73.5	700	5.2
South Savo	14998	11467	76.5	557	4.9
Southwest Finland	42293	30807	72.8	1528	5.0
Vantaa and Kerava	20035	14193	70.8	671	4.7
West Uusimaa	37218	26839	72.1	1166	4.3
Total	486938	357051	73.3	17258	4.8

Participation rate

2025

Positivity rate

2025

Participation rate maps

Wellbeing services counties

Latest year (2025)

Municipalities

Latest year (2025)

Details

Data

• The data includes all persons eligible for screening in 2025, and the primary-phase events of the screening chain (participation, test positivity) reported on them by 13 October 2026.
• These are preliminary statistics, and the figures may still be updated before the official statistics release in spring 2027.

Indicator definitions

• The participation rate was calculated by dividing the number of persons who successfully returned the test (at least one successful test result per round) by the number of persons selected for the screening invitation. The selected persons also include those who were eligible to participate in screening but were not sent an invitation, for example because of a missing address due to a non-disclosure order.
• Test positivity rate was calculated by dividing the number of positive tests by the number of all persons who successfully returned the test.
• The confidence intervals for the proportions of positives and the participation rate describe the uncertainty in the proportion arising from sample size and random variation. The confidence intervals are calculated as exact 95%–confidence intervals based on a binomial model.

Population classification

• Statistics production uses individual-level education data released by Statistics Finland under permit TK/2743/07.03.00/2023.
• The education categories were created by combining the categories pre-primary, lower primary and upper primary into the category primary education, by combining secondary education and specialist vocational qualifications into the category secondary education, and by combining lower and upper tertiary education and doctoral education into the category tertiary education. Unknown and missing data have been combined with primary education in the same category. The education data refer to the year preceding the screening year (e.g. for the 2024 screening year, the education data are from 2023).
• Native language and area of birth are based on data from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.