Immigration could soon account for half of Finland’s population growth

Current level of migration not enough to offset upcoming labour shortage

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Immigration is expected to account for more than half of Finland’s annual population growth within the next ten years. Fresh figures indicate that nearly 45% of Finland’s annual population increase is attributable to people moving to Finland from abroad.
      The impact of migration on Finnish demographic trends has turned upside-down in recent decades. Just 25 years ago more people moved out of Finland than moved in. In the 1980s immigration already accounted for about 14% of Finland’s net population growth. In the 1990s the proportion rose to an average 28%.
     
"Immigrants tend to be young - 30 years old on average - when they come to Finland. They often have families that are larger than those in the population at large", notes special researcher Sari Pekkala of the State Economic Research Centre (VATT).
      A major surge in immigration came in the early 1990s, when many Ingrians - ethnic Finns - moved to Finland from the former Soviet Union. At the same time, large numbers of refugees from the fighting in Somalia were also arriving in Finland.
      Experts say that the present rate of immigration is not enough to compensate for the impending shortage of labour expected when members of the postwar baby boom generation retire.
      This year is the first one when the number people leaving the Finnish labour market exceed the number of newcomers. The biggest surge in new retirees will take place from 2008 to 2010.
      The government is currently drafting its first immigration policy programme, under the leadership of Minister of Labour Tarja Filatov (SDP).
      The aim of the programme, which will be ready in the summer, will be to consider how Finland might attract and integrate sufficient numbers of trained professionals.
     
Finland’s net population growth in recent years has been between 12,000 and 13,000 annually.
      Natural growth - the difference between the number of people being born and dying in Finland - accounts for about 7,000 of the total increase. The rest, about 6,000 last year, comes form net immigration - the difference between people moving her from abroad, and those leaving Finland.
      The net migration figures do not include children born to immigrants while in Finland, as they are seen as part of the natural population growth. In recent years there have been about 60,000 births in Finland each year.
     
According to Statistics Finland, the average Finnish woman gives birth to 1.7 children, and foreign women living in Finland have an average 2.2 children. The highest birth rate among immigrant groups is with Somalis, who have an average 4.9 children per woman. Next in the fertility figures come the Iraqis with 3.8 children, and Turks, with an average 3.4 children per woman.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Huge differences in employment rates among immigrants from various countries (14.3.2005)

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