Background Systematic research on occupation or industry-speciยฎc incidence of occupational asthma (OA) is sparse. We calculated the incidence of notiยฎed OA by occupation, industry and causative agent in Finland for the years 1989ยฑ95. Methods The numbers of cases of reported OA were retrieved from the Finnish Registry of Occupational Diseases for the population between 20 and 64 years of age. The numbers of employed workers were retrieved from Statistics Finland. Incidence rates were calculated for each occupation, industry and the total workforce. Results Altogether 2602 cases of OA were notiยฎed and the mean annual incidence rate was 17.4 cases/100,000 employed workers. The incidence rate was the highest in bakers, other painters and lacquerers, veterinary surgeons, chemical workers, farmers, animal husbandry workers, other food manufacturing workers, welders, plastic product workers, butchers and sausage makers, and ยฏoor layers. Cases caused by animal epithelia, hairs and secretions or ยฏours, grains, and fodders accounted for 60% of the total. Conclusions Estimation of occupation and industry-speciยฎc incidence rates forms the basis for successful prevention of OA, but necessitates collection of data over several years from well-established surveillance systems.