Report on the oversight of political party funding 2025
The political parties and party associations audited in 2025 complied mainly well with the provisions of the Act on Political Parties. However, the audits found some shortcomings in their operations, such as missing documents and contributions that had not been reported. Shortcomings were also found in the use of the government grant, and in one case, the terms and conditions of the party subsidy decision had not been complied with.
Photo: Ville-Veikko Heinonen
What was overseen?
- external support received
- election campaign costs and funding
- preparation and submission of information
- use of government grants, i.e. party subsidies
Key findings
- The political parties and party associations had mainly complied well with the Act on Political Parties.
- As a result of the audits, the overseen entities submitted additional disclosures of contributions for 2021–2024 for around EUR 189,000.
- Between 2021 and 2024, political party funding totalled EUR 20.9 million.
- Documents, reports and information referred to in the Act on Political Parties were submitted to the disclosure register of the oversight of political party funding during the audits.
- One party did not comply with the terms and conditions of the party subsidy decision in its use of the party subsidy.
- Four overseen entities could not be reached for the purposes of the audit.
Briefly
Each year, the National Audit Office audits both political party funding and party subsidies. In 2025, the NAOF audited 61 party organisations, including all parties represented in Parliament. The NAOF’s findings concern the activities of the overseen entities between 2021 and 2024.
According to the Act on Political Parties, political parties, party associations and affiliated entities shall disclose their election campaign funding and any significant external support they have received and submit to the NAOF their accounting records, financial statements and other documents concerning their use of funds.
The overseen entities mainly complied well with the financial provisions of the Act on Political Parties. As a result of the audits, the overseen entities submitted disclosures of contributions for previous years (2021–2024) for a total of around EUR 189,000. Thereby the total amount of political party funding for 2021–2024 increased to EUR 20.9 million.
As a result of the audits, the overseen entities submitted disclosures of contributions for the previous four years for around EUR 189,000.
The NAOF also oversees that the political parties use the government grants, or party subsidies, granted to them in accordance with the terms and conditions set in the grant decision and that they report on the use of the party subsidies in an appropriate manner. In 2024, the party subsidies granted totalled EUR 34.56 million.
The audits found individual shortcomings in the use of party subsidies, such as shortcomings in agreement practices and government grant reports. One political party did not comply with the terms and conditions of the grant decision in its use of the party subsidy. The party returned EUR 4,085 of its party subsidy to the Prime Minister’s Office.
€20.9 million
Total amount of political party funding in 2021–2024
Contact persons
Malviina Vahtera
Senior Auditor
Oversight of election campaign and political party funding, Processing of complaints and reports on irregularities
Jonna Toivoniemi
Oversight Manager
Oversight of election campaign and political party funding, Oversight of the Finnish Transparency Register, Processing of complaints and reports on irregularities
