Finland is still a country capable of attracting people from abroad and its net immigration has been positive during the last decade due to the arrival of citizens of foreign origin.
In the 2010s, the number of immigrations has yearly been around 12,000 to 17,000 higher than the number of emigrations, according to Statistics Finland's data on population changes.
Examined by origin, migration gain has in the past decade been formed almost entirely or entirely from the positive net immigration of people with foreign background.
In 2019, the net immigration of persons with Finnish background was 700 moves negative and that of persons with foreign background 16,200 moves positive.
The largest background country group in immigration of persons with foreign background was the former Soviet Union (2,400 immigrants). The next largest groups of immigrants were those with Estonian background (1,484), Indian background (1 448) and Iraqi background (1,368).
Net immigration was highest in the background country group of the former Soviet Union (1,650), those with Iraqi background (1,154) and those with Indian background (1,055).
The net immigration of men and women with foreign background has been fluctuated since the late 1990s, but after 2012, the growth in migration gain has slowed down somewhat for men with foreign background and slightly decreased for women with foreign background. For both sexes, net immigration was around 8,000 in 2019.
Source: Statistics Finland.
Migration loss of Finnish citizens
The net immigration of Finnish citizens has been negative in the 2010s, but during 2016 to 2019, migration loss has decreased. The trend has been falling in all educational groups, especially among those with upper secondary level and at least higher university level qualifications.
According to Statistics Finland, the net immigration of Finnish citizens was 1,456 moves negative in 2019. Altogether 10,036 Finnish citizens moved abroad from Finland and 8,580 Finnish citizens moved to Finland.
Migration loss has decreased from 2016, when the number of emigrations of Finnish citizens was as much as 4,079 higher than that of immigrations. From 2016 to 2019, immigration among Finnish citizens has grown by 12% and emigration has decreased by 14%.
By gender
For women with Finnish background net immigration has been slightly negative for just under three decades. The loss has been about 100 to 2,100 moves annually.
For men with Finnish background, the number of emigrants and immigrants has been equal at times, but during 2012 to 2018, for example, the number of emigrants exceeded immigrants annually by several hundred or good one thousand.
In 2019, the net immigration of women with Finnish background was around 800 moves negative and that of men with Finnish background 87 moves positive.
