Yhteenvetotiedostot

Yhteenvetotiedostot are standardized summary files used within Finnish public sector and research institutions to consolidate and distribute aggregates of larger datasets. The term literally translates to "summary files" and the format is typically a plain text or comma‑separated values (CSV) document with a predefined schema. Each file contains aggregated statistics such as means, totals, or percentages, often split by demographic categories, geographical units, or time periods. The intention is to provide an accessible snapshot that can be imported into spreadsheets, statistical software or web portals without requiring access to the raw data.

Municipalities, educational authorities, and health agencies produce yhteenvetotiedostot as part of annual reporting obligations. In the educational sector, for example, school boards release summary files containing enrollment figures, pass rates, and budget summaries. In healthcare, public health agencies issue summarized incidence rates of communicable diseases. Researchers use these files as a starting point for exploratory analysis before downloading full datasets. Because the files follow a common naming convention and structural pattern, automated pipelines can ingest multiple summary files simultaneously, enabling cross‑institutional comparisons and large‑scale trend analysis.

The files are governed by national data governance regulations that specify retention periods, access levels, and data protection measures. While the structure is not as rigid as formal standards like ISO 19115 for geographic metadata, many institutions adopt internal rules to keep column order, units of measure and coding schemes consistent. These practices facilitate interoperability between sectors and enhance the transparency of public data.