Finnish is the native language for more than 90% of Finns. It belongs to the Finno-Ugric language family, which, unlike most other European languages, does not belong to the Indo-European group of languages. It is related to Estonian and other Baltic minority languages.

The other official language in Finland is Swedish, which is a Germanic language belonging to the Indo-European group of languages. Swedish is closely related to Norwegian and Danish. English has traditionally not been widely understood or spoken in Finland, although the younger urban generations usually have a fair understanding of English.