Payment defaults on steep rise
In the first half of the year some 200,000 Finns were added to a register of payment defaulters. That figure is an all-time high. Altogether some one million new payment defaults by individuals were registered.
The number private debts put out to collection rose to more than a million in the period from January to June, some 25 percent more than during the corresponding period in 2011.
These debts were run up by some 200,000 Finns, a record number. That figure is a 17 percent increase on the number for the same time last year.
A total of some 340,000 people are now on the payment defaults register, which is maintained by the Suomen Asiakastieto credit rating agency. This represents a rise of around 12,500 over the last year.
Businesses have also been struggling to pay their bills, but not quite as much as private individuals. According to Suomen Asiakastieto, business debts sold for collection increasingly often go unrecovered.
Some 26,000 businesses had at least one payment default added to the register in the first half of the year, an increase of some nine percent year-on-year. Around 51,000 businesses are currently on the payment default register.
Latest in: News
Talvivaara mine stains river orange
The mine has been involved in a string of environmental mishaps -- and PR fiascos -- for more than six months.
Moomin ceramics tempt shoplifters
Police say that housewares depicting the denizens of Moominvalley are in high demand -- including among thieves.
Finland ranks mid-table in EU beach cleanliness
Finland ranks among the EU’s top 10 countries when it comes to purity of bathing waters – but just barely.
April unemployment at 8.8%
The unemployment rate in Finland declined slightly in April to 8.8%, down from March, but still higher than a year previously.
Company exploiting foreign workers up for Helsinki contract
Work-safety inspections this year at about 20 small and medium-sized cleaning companies that employ immigrant workers have discovered problems at every firm checked. Yle has found that the City of Helsinki is considering contracting services from a company that was determined to have employment rules violations.
Spanish nurses leaving Vaasa
Five of eight Spanish nurses recruited to work in Vaasa's city hospital have decided to quit the jobs they took up in October and leave the country. The reasons they cite include the high cost of living, the cold climate, and the difficulty of the Finnish language.
Toxic spill in Helsinki's Mätäjoki River
A chemical discharge into Helsinki's Mätäjoki River has killed fish and possibly wiped out years of efforts to revive spawning grounds for endangered species.
Sikh bus driver fights for right to wear turban
Managing diversity in Finnish workplaces is raising new issues for employers, unions and workers themselves. One Sikh bus driver in Vantaa is currently fighting to set a precedent allowing him to wear a turban.
Veolia drivers to return to work
Bus drivers working for the Veolia company will return to work on Tuesday, bringing their week-long work stoppage to an end.
Finnish traffic cops set to miss out on Gumball speeding fine jackpot
Several contestants in the Gumball rally were stopped for speeding on Monday, on the Turku-Helsinki leg of their unorthodox race. Police say that despite their concerns, the drivers are likely to escape Finland’s hefty income-based fines.
