Hunting 2024

A total of 301,963 hunters paid the annual game management fee in 2024. Around 196,000 of them hunted. The number of hunters increased compared to 2023.

• The grouse bag of 2024 decreased compared to previous year. Around 76,000 black grouse, 22,000 capercaillies, 25,000 hazel grouse and 22,000 willow grouse were bagged in 2024.
• Mallard is by far the most hunted waterfowl in Finland, followed by teal. In 2024, a total of 123,000 mallard and 42,000 teal were bagged.
• The most hunted game species was the wood pigeon (264,000 birds). The average wood pigeon bag was 10 birds per successful hunter.
• The raccoon dog bag was around 123,000 animals, and a total of 20,000 mink, 36,000 foxes, 11,000 pine martens and 12,000 badgers were bagged.
• 67,000 mountain hares and 59,000 brown hares were bagged.
• The moose harvest was 37,874 animals. The white-tailed deer harvest was 48,121 animals.
• There were around 157,000 small-game hunters, including around 61,000 waterfowl hunters and around 100,000 grouse hunters. The total number of moose and deer hunters was around 120,000.

• The game harvest resulted in around 7.6 million kilos of carcass meat, of which two-thirds was moose meat. The nominal value of the game meat was around EUR 58 million.

  Information about the statistics

• The information concerning species within the scope of a hunting permit and the reporting obligation (including deer, large carnivores, grey seals, otters and European polecats, as well as long-tailed duck, goosander, common eider, wigeon, northern pintail, northern shoveler, tufted duck, greylag goose and bean goose) has been obtained from the Finnish Wildlife Agency and reported at the accuracy of individual animals. (Other species are reported at the accuracy of 100 animals.)
• The statistics were compiled based on a survey mailed to 9,475 hunters. The response rate was 56 %. The exceptionally large game bag of some hunters causes uncertainty in harvest estimates, especially at regional level. The reliability of the harvest estimates is usually higher for the most commonly hunted species than for less frequently hunted species. Starting from the statistical year 2024, the hunting statistics will include, in addition to the reported variable, its relative standard error, which reflects the uncertainty associated with the statistical estimate.
• For the 2024 statistical year, a new weighting method was also introduced in the hunting statistics, in which the sampling weights are calibrated using data from the Finnish Wildlife Agency on the age and gender distribution of the target population. The method accounts for non-response bias more effectively than before.