Reporting death information to the Population Information System
Death information can be notified to the Population Information System
- electronically directly from the system used by the person notifying the information
- with a form that is sent to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency
- by email to [email protected], as a secure email through the Agency’s secure email service if necessary.
- by mail to Digital and Population Data Services Agency / Scanning centre, PO Box 1003, FI-00531 HELSINKI.
If a non-disclosure for personal safety reasons has been recorded for the deceased in the Population Information System, the notification must always be submitted as a secure email primarily through the Agency’s secure email service.
If the last municipality of residence of the deceased was in Åland, the death information must be submitted to the State Department of Åland.
Deaths abroad are notified in a different way.
The healthcare unit, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare or a doctor must submit the information about the person’s death to the Population Information System without delay after the determination of death. The notification is signed by the doctor who performed the determination of death.
If the date of death cannot be specified in connection with the determination of death, the death is notified when the date of death has been determined or estimated.
If you find out later that the date of death is not the date that was originally notified, send the Notification of death to the Population Information System form with the right date of death to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.
Indicate in the notification that it is a correction to the earlier date of death.
If a non-disclosure for personal safety reasons has been recorded for the deceased in the Population Information System, the notification must always be submitted as a secure email primarily through the Agency’s secure email service.
Send the form
- by email to [email protected], as a secure email through the Agency’s secure email service if necessary.
- by mail to Digital and Population Data Services Agency / Scanning centre, PO Box 1003, FI-00531 HELSINKI.
The Digital and Population Data Services Agency will correct the date of death.
The information can be easily notified electronically
You can notify the death information electronically from your own system directly to the Population Information System when you have applied for the permit for electronic notification and the Digital and Population Data Services Agency has granted it to you. Electronic notification of the information takes place through the interface provided by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.
How to apply for the permit:
1. Register with the Agency’s e-services. Registration requires identification with online banking codes, an organisation card, a mobile certificate or an electronic ID card. It is advisable for people working in the same organisation unit to create only one customer account. Several users can be linked to the same customer account.
2. In the e-services, complete the application for a permit to notify death information electronically.
In the application, select “Public administration” and below it, select “I report information to the Population Information System” and from the drop-down menu, select “I report information to the Population Information System”. Select “Start”. Fill in the required information in the section “Permit to notify death information” in the application.
3. The Agency will process your application and contact you. You will receive the descriptions of the interfaces in a secure email so that you can forward them to your ICT service provider.
If you have questions about electronic notification, you can send them to: [email protected].
Everyone benefits from electronic notification of death information
Electronic real-time notification of death information benefits society, the different parties in healthcare and the family of the deceased because
- fast and reliable transfer of data saves society’s money and resources
- the processes of different actors in healthcare become faster
- the matters of the deceased can be managed more quickly.
Death information from the Population Information System is needed promptly by parties such as the Tax Administration, Kela, Traficom, THL, parishes, municipalities, healthcare units, pension insurance companies, banks and insurance companies.
Data Exchange Layer helps to transfer information from one system to another
The Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer is the recommended data transfer channel for notifying the death information. It will transfer the information directly to the Population Information System in real time. Start the deployment by submitting the user permit application. Go to the Suomi.fi website to familiarise yourself with drawing up the application.
A comprehensive presentation of the Data Exchange Layer can also be found on the Suomi.fi website.
It is free of charge for public administration and private sector actors to connect to the Data Exchange Layer and use it. You will also get technical support and the certificates free of charge. However, you will yourselves be responsible for the costs resulting from the deployment of the service, such as the costs, installing and maintenance of the Security Server.
You will find more information about connecting to the Data Exchange Layer on our website. You can send questions related to the deployment of the Data Exchange Layer to [email protected].