Immigration in Finland is a growing phenomenon. At the end of 2018, the number of people with foreign background (born outside the country or inland but with foreign parents) exceeded 400,000 for the first time.
In total, there were 402,619 persons with foreign background living in Finland, which was 7.3% of the entire population, according to the latest figures on population structure produced by Statistics Finland.
Among those people, there were 335,414 persons of first generation with foreign background (born abroad) and 67,205 persons of second generation with foreign background (born in Finland). The number of children with foreign background has doubled in ten years.
Source: Statistics Finland.
More African
The numbers show that at the end of 2018, the share of persons with European background among first-generation immigrants was over one-half (55%). The share of persons with Asian background was 29% and 11% for persons with African background.
The share of Europeans among persons with foreign background born in Finland was 48%, that of persons with Asian background 27%, and 22% for persons with African background. The share of persons with African background among those with foreign background is double in the second generation.
Source: Statistics Finland.
The largest group
The clearly largest group of persons with foreign background was those whose background country was Russia or the former Soviet Union. There were 85,534 such persons at the end of 2018, which is one-fifth of all persons with foreign background.
The next biggest groups were people of Estonian background, 49,989 persons, persons of Iraqi background, 22,336, and persons of Somali background, 20,723.
Source: Statistics Finland.
Children under school-age
The average age of persons with foreign background in the first generation was 38.2 years in 2018, and that of the entire population was 42.9 years. The average age of persons with Finnish background was 43.6 years. The average age of persons of foreign background in the second generation was 11 years.
The share of under school-age children (aged 0 to 6) with foreign background was 10.3% at the end of 2018. One in four of under school-age children are already of foreign background in Greater Helsinki.
Source: Statistics Finland.
The highest share in Åland and Greater Helsinki
The number of people with foreign origin was highest in the region of Åland, where their share of the population was 15.5% and second highest in Uusimaa, 13.5%. Of the persons with foreign origin living in Åland, 40% were of Swedish origin. The share of the population with foreign origin was lowest in South Ostrobothnia, 2.3%.
Of all people with foreign background, more than one-half lived in Uusimaa. Of second-generation immigrants with foreign background, 62% lived in Uusimaa.
Examined by municipality, the share of people with foreign background among Mainland Finland municipalities was highest in Vantaa, 19.3%, Espoo 17% and in Närpiö and Helsinki, 16% cent in both.
Largest birth cohort in the population
During 2018, those born in 1963 became the largest age group in our population. At the end of 2018, in all 75,114 such persons were living in Finland. The second largest birth cohort, those born in 1948, totaled 74,793 persons.
Altogether, there were 32 cohorts in the population with at least 70,000 persons. Of these, four cohorts were born in the 1940s, nine in the 1950s, nine in the 1960s, seven in the 1980s and three in the 1990s.
