Finland among the countries with the most boats per capita: number of new watercraft registrations increasing

Between January and June 2019, a total of 2,857 watercraft were registered for the first time. This constitutes an increase of 11.1 per cent year-on-year. The registration obligation concerns watercraft that are at least 5.5 metres long and equipped with a sail or engine as well as watercraft with engine power of at least 15 kW (approx. 20.4 hp).

“Finland continues to rank among the countries with the most boats per capita. The long and sunny boating season we enjoyed last year is likely one of the factors driving the growth in registration volumes this year, too. The number of first registrations of new sailboats has remained very low for quite some time, but now we are seeing positive development in those figures as well,” says Ville Räisänen, head of unit at Traficom.

Motorboats were clearly the most common type of watercraft registered during the first half of 2019, with 2,012 registrations. Compared to the year before, there was an increase of 8.5 per cent. Of all new boats, more than 70 per cent were motorboats.

As in previous years, personal watercraft remained popular: 757 watercraft were registered in the first half of the the year, which is an increase of 17.5 per cent compared to the year before.

Most new boats in Uusimaa and Southwest Finland

First registration volumes of boats are highest in large cities and along the coast. The most new boats were registered in the regions of Uusimaa and Southwest Finland: the top three municipalities were Helsinki, Turku and Espoo.

Watercraft registration volumes vary greatly during the year: only a few dozen boats are registered in the winter, while in the spring and summer the number is hundreds, even thousands a month.

Motorboat the most common watercraft

Motorboats are the most popular of all means of water transport. Of boats, they account for an even higher share: at the end of June 2019, a total of 217,236 boats were registered, with approximately 90 per cent being motorboats.  The average length of boats was 6 metres, and the most common boat names were Maria, Helmi and Bella.