Record number of citizens of foreign countries living in Finland
Immigrant population still small by average European standards
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The number of citizens of foreign countries living in Finland has been increasing in recent years. Last year 5,500 new immigrants settled in Finland.
According to demographic statistics released by Statistics Finland on Thursday last week, 113,800 foreigners were permanent residents of Finland at the end of last year, which is 2.2 percent of the population.
Russians comprise the largest language group among the foreign residents.
The total population of Finland grew faster last year than it has in 11 years - by a total of 19,000.
In addition to record-high immigration, a slight increase in the birth rate also played a part.
The largest groups of immigrants comprise Russians and Estonians.
Nearly 25,000 Russian citizens lived in Finland last year, compared with 8,200 Swedes and 4,700 Somalis.
The proportion of foreigners in the Finnish population remains fairly small by European standards.
The annual figures also examine the distribution of the population by mother tongue. The proportion of those whose native languages are something other than the country’s official native languages - Finnish, Swedish, or Sami - is just 2.7 percent. However, it is growing steadily. Ten years ago the figure was 1.3 percent.
The number of residents in Finland with a foreign language as their mother tongue is 144,000.
Last year 5.5 percent of the population were native speakers of Swedish. This is slightly down from the 1990 figure, which was 5.9 percent.
The proportion of people who speak Russian is increasing fast. Currently they number nearly 40,000, which is more than the population of the city of Hyvinkää in the south of Finland. In five years the number of Russians has increased by more than 10,000.
However, at just 0.8 percent of the population, there is still a long way to go before they will rival the Swedish-speakers.
The Russian-speakers are a fairly varied group. They include Ingrian returning migrants - the descendants of Finns who settled on the southeast shore of the Gulf of Finland in the 17th century - as well as those moving to Finland by way of marriage, and the descendants of Russians who settled in Finland already during the time of the Tsars.
Native speakers of Estonian, who number more than 15,000, are the fourth largest language group.
There are 1,700 speakers of Sami, the smallest official language. This gives them 0.03 percent of the whole country’s population. The proportion remained roughly the same as long as statistics have been kept.
Helsingin Sanomat
