Financial Statements, Annual Report and Sustainability Report for 2025 published
In 2025, Metropolia continued its bold renewal in line with its strategic ambition. The year included, among other things, historically positive feedback from students, investments in international research projects, and new business openings around the world. The financial result was reasonable despite the generally weak economic situation.
Key figures for 2025:
- Turnover amounted to EUR 127.7 million, a decrease of EUR 6.9 million from the previous year
- The financial result for the period was a profit of EUR 0.5 million, with an adjusted result of EUR 2 million
- The number of students in autumn 2025 was 19,261, an increase of 1,066 on the previous year
- There were 15,009 first-choice applicants for Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes during the year
- The turnover from RDI operations was EUR 12.6 million, with 70 ongoing RDI projects at the end of the year
“From the beginning of 2025, Metropolia transitioned into a new strategic period. We are investing in five strategic themes that support renewal. In addition, our development in the coming years will be guided by growth targets that cover education activities, research, development and innovation activities, as well as business operations up to 2030,” says Metropolia’s President and CEO Riitta Konkola.
Record-high feedback on teaching
In 2025, Metropolia’s learning activities focused particularly on increasing the provision of English-language education, expanding phenomenon-based online offerings, improving the quality of course implementations, reducing dropout rates and modularising study offerings.
Students graduating from Metropolia gave historically positive feedback on their studies. The annual AVOP survey, conducted among all graduates of Finnish universities of applied sciences, measures student experiences of completed studies.
“Metropolia improved its performance in all 13 question groups of the survey and was above the national average in almost all areas. The greatest improvements were seen in the following categories: Feedback and Assessment, Student Support Services, Connections to Working Life, and Learning Environments and Teaching. Students’ ratings in these categories improved by approximately 4–5 per cent,” says Heidi Rontu, Director of Education.
New solutions for working life and society
During the year, Metropolia’s research, development and innovation (RDI) activities focused especially on international research projects, many of which utilise new and emerging technologies.
“For example, in the EU-funded PALLIAKID project, which studies paediatric palliative care, Metropolia is developing a virtual reality-based training tool and a digital platform for professionals, child patients and their families. In spring 2025, Business Finland granted positive funding for the ‘From Metadata to the Metaverse’ project, which applies emerging technologies,” says Miimu Airaksinen, Metropolia’s RDI Director.
Through its publications, Metropolia supports the development of society and the business sector. In 2025, a total of 913 publications were produced. Metropolia’s new online media, Metrospective, was launched in early 2025. It offers professionals and the wider public fresh insights and solutions from Metropolia’s staff and students in the form of articles, podcasts and videos. During the year, 148 articles, 31 podcasts and two videos were published, and the platform had more than 13,000 active users.
Internationalisation continues
The U!REKA European University Alliance coordinated by Metropolia has gained real momentum. Its first concrete outcomes include joint course offerings and new EU projects with partner institutions. Metropolia has also continued active EU advocacy work.
Metropolia’s internationalisation is reflected not only in European higher education cooperation but also in new degree programmes in China and Vietnam, and in a growing international higher education community. The number of students whose first language is other than Finnish, Swedish or Sámi reached 4,491 in autumn 2025, accounting for 23.4 per cent of all degree students.
“We are increasingly investing in the integration and support of international degree students, as well as in improving their opportunities to find employment in Finland in roles that match their skills and education,” says Riitta Konkola.
Sustainability Report highlights progress in sustainable development
Sustainable development is a cross-cutting theme in Metropolia’s strategy. A sustainable future is built by strengthening the sustainability of Metropolia’s own operations and education, and by developing sustainable solutions together with partners. The newly published Sustainability Report describes how the Metropolia community advanced this work in 2025.
“The Sustainability Report reviews Metropolia’s activities across the three core areas of corporate responsibility: environmental responsibility, social responsibility and good governance. In addition, the report presents numerous concrete examples of actions promoting a sustainable future. Readers can learn, for instance, how students’ own perceptions of their knowledge and ability to apply sustainable development have strengthened since 2022. Another key highlight is the update of Metropolia’s Climate Programme, in which we set new emission reduction targets for 2030 and 2050,” says Anssi Almgren, Metropolia’s Sustainable Development Manager.
Metropolia’s updated Climate Programme aims for a 50 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030 compared with 2022 levels. A further target is to halve emissions relative to turnover (CO₂e t/million €), as Metropolia anticipates significant growth in the coming years. In the longer term, by 2050, the goal is to reduce emissions by 90 per cent compared with 2022.
Read Metropolia’s 2025 Financial Statements and Annual Report
Read Metropolia’s 2025 Sustainability Report
Further information
Riitta Konkola
President and CEO
Metropolia University of Applied Sciences
+358 97 424 5000
firstname.lastname [at] metropolia.fi (firstname[dot]lastname[at]metropolia[dot]fi)