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Immigration to Finland

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The most common reasons for immigration to Finland are work, family reunification, study, asylum, return migration and the pursuit of a high quality of life. Immigration is linked to discussions about ethnicity, economic effects, employment, integration and political developments. It also addresses labour shortages, supports the ageing population and contributes to innovation.

Historically, Finland has been predominantly ethnically homogeneous, with native Finns forming the majority of the population. Traditional minority groups include Finland-Swedes, Sámi and Roma communities. Immigration has increased significantly over the last three decades, leading to greater ethnic diversity. Major immigrant groups in Finland include Estonians, Russians, Ukrainians, Iraqis, Chinese, Somalis, Filipinos, Indians and Iranians.

, Statistics Finland has published data on the foreign population using three different methods. The Finnish population includes persons of foreign origin and background, who make up 11.1% of the total population. In additional calculations, the proportion of persons born outside Finland is 10.3%. Persons with a mother tongue other than Finnish, Swedish or Sámi account for 10.8%.

History

Under Sweden

Under Swedish control, soldiers, priests and officers from Sweden started to arrive in Finland. With them came also Walloons. During this time Romanis migrated from Sweden to Finland. Nowadays there are around 10,000 Finnish Kale in Finland. Many Germans, Norwegians, Danes, Swiss people, Poles, Dutch people and Scottish people settled in Finland during this period. Many big modern-day companies in Finland were started by these emigrants, including Finlayson, Fazer, Fiskars, Stockmann, Stora Enso and Paulig.

Grand Duchy of Finland (Russian control)

When Finland became under Russian rule as Grand Duchy in the 1800s, Russians, Jews, Tatars and during World War I Chinese people started moving to Finland. This established small Jewish and Tatar communities in Finland. There are around 1,800 Jews and 1,000 Tatars living in Finland. When Finland gained independence in 1917, majority of the Russians and Chinese left Finland.

After independence and WW1

Finland's first immigrants arrived in the years 1917–1922, thousands of Russians escaped to Finland as a result of the Russian Revolution. Many of them died in the Finnish Civil War. In the beginning of 1919, statistics showed there were 15,457 Russians in Finland, however the actual number was likely higher. The largest refugee flow was in 1922, when 33,500 crossed over the eastern border to Finland. The refugees were St. Petersburg Finns, Ingrian Finns, Karelians, officers, factory owners and nobles, among them was the cousin of the Romanov Family, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich. In 1921, after the Kronstadt rebellion, 6,400 seamen escaped over the frozen Gulf of Finland to Finland. Many of them integrated to the Finnish society, while others continued to Continental Europe. Between 1917 and 1939, 44,000 refugees sought asylum in Finland. In other estimates, between 1917 and 1939 as many as 100,000 sought security in Finland.

Immigrant statistics from 1924:

Country1924
Soviet Union Soviet Union16,921
Sweden Sweden4,080
Germany Germany1,645
Norway Norway457
Denmark Denmark379
Switzerland Switzerland269
**Total****24,451**

World War II

Immigrants from opposing sides of the war were sent to Internment camps and Nazi concentration camps in Nazi Germany. During the war, Ingrian Finns and Estonians migrated to Finland. Most of the people that did not manage to escape to the west were sent to the Soviet Union. When Finland ceded parts of its territory to the Soviet Union, 430,000 people from there had to be evacuated. This was 12% of Finland's population at the time. When Finland annexed these parts back in the Continuation War, 260,000 of them returned home. After the Soviet Union annexed these parts again, the population there had to be evacuated yet again. These evacuees were housed and settled to the remaining parts of Finland by the state.

After WW2

Immigration after the war stopped. The geopolitical state of the country and difficult economic situation did not attract immigrants. The number of foreign citizens during this time stayed stable, at 10,000. Between 1950 and 1975 it only grew by 1,000.

The immigration during the 1970s and 1980s consisted mainly by returning Finnish expats. Between 1981 and 1989, 70% of all immigration were Finns returning. In 1980, there were 12,843 foreign citizens. The largest groups were from Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and Denmark.

Country1980
Sweden3,105
Germany1,493
UK980
Soviet Union858
Denmark403
Norway306
Poland290
Switzerland282
Italy275
France262
Netherlands252
Spain240
Austria162
Greece123
Turkey114
Hungary81
Ireland44
Yugoslavia42
Bulgaria38
Portugal34
Belgium31
Romania25
Iceland20
Other Europe53
Americas1,650
Asia833
Africa349
Oceania157
No citizenship340
Unknown1

Refugee waves

The first refugee wave to Finland after the wars happened when the 1973 Chilean coup d'état started. 200 Chilean refugees arrived in Finland during the 1970s. They were not welcomed warmly, as they were one of Finland's very first non-white minorities. Most of the original 200 refugees returned to Chile. In 2017 there were 1,000 Chileans in Finland.

The second, and much larger refugee wave happened when Vietnamese boat people came to Finland in the 1980s. Around 800 of them arrived. The Vietnamese community has grown into 10,817 by 2017. In 1990 after the breakup of Yugoslavia, thousands of refugees came to Finland, with most being Kosovars and Bosniaks. Immigrants from Yugoslavia now constitute the fourth or third largest immigrant group in Finland. They have established huge communities in Vantaa, Turku, Espoo and Närpes.

The most notable refugee waves are from Somalia and Iraq. The first Somalis arrived to Finland via the Soviet Union. The Somali-speaking population in Finland has grown from zero to 21,000 between 1990 and 2018. 55% of Somalis in Finland are unemployed, the highest of any ethnic group in Finland.

In 2014, Finland took 1,030 quota refugees, and an additional 3,651 people sought asylum. Of the asylum seekers, 1,346 were positive and 2,050 negative. Nearly one in two asylum seekers identity is not verified, mainly due to lack of passports. In 2008, 4,000 asylum seekers arrived in Finland. This grew to 6,000 in 2009, though it dropped to 4,000 in 2010. In 2011, 2012 and 2013 3,000 asylum seekers arrived in each year. The number grew to 32,400 in 2015, which was Europe's fourth largest in terms of population. It then dropped to 5,600 in 2016 and 5,100 in 2017.

On 13 September 2015, it was reported that the local authorities had estimated the flow of 300 asylum seekers per day entering via the northern land border from Sweden into Tornio, which is the main route of migration flow into Finland. The total number of asylum seekers for the year was reported to be over 2.6 times the total amount for the whole of the previous year. During October 2015, 7,058 new asylum seekers arrived in Finland. In mid-October the number of asylum seekers entering Finland during 2015 reached 27,000, which is, in relation to the country's size, the fourth-largest in Europe. In late November, the number passed 30,000, nearly ten-fold increase compared to the previous year.

More than 60% of asylum seekers who arrived during 2015 came from Iraq. In late October, the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) changed its guidelines about areas in Iraq which are recognised as safe by the Finnish authorities, The Interior Minister Petteri Orpo estimated that two in three of recent asylum seekers come to Finland in hopes of higher standard of living. In November, the Permanent Secretary of the Interior Ministry stated that approximately 60–65% of the recent applications for asylum will be denied.

In 2017, hundreds of Muslim asylum seekers from Iraq and Afghanistan converted to Christianity after having had their first asylum application rejected by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri), in order to re-apply for asylum on the grounds of religious persecution.

Country1990–2019
Iraq Iraq33,448
Somalia Somalia11,007
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia10,708
Afghanistan Afghanistan9,504
Russia Russia8,101
Bulgaria Bulgaria3,504
Syria Syria3,235
Iran Iran incl. (Kurdistan province)3,172
Slovakia Slovakia2,896
Turkey Turkey2,813
Nigeria Nigeria1,960
Romania Romania1,953
Poland Poland1,603
Albania Albania1,569
Ukraine Ukraine1,088
Belarus Belarus1,034
Algeria Algeria1,030
Other18,403
**Total****117,028**

Other refugee groups have arrived from Eritrea, Lebanon, DR Congo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Georgia and Pakistan.

EU membership and the 1990s

The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Since then immigration into Finland has greatly increased. By joining the Schengen Area, immigration to Finland has been easier. Finland allowed Ingrian Finns to migrate back to Finland as returnees. Since then, around 35,000 Ingrians have moved to Finland.

Finland joined the EU in 1995. This enabled freedom of movement. This has brought construction workers from France, Estonia and Poland.

Change in immigrant population of the EU 2004 and 2007 enlargement countries between 2003 and 2021:

  1. Estonia +41,837
  2. Romania +4,721
  3. Poland +4,464
  4. Latvia +3,234
  5. Bulgaria +2,524
  6. Hungary +1,789
  7. Lithuania +1,499
  8. Czech Republic +751
  9. Slovakia +419
  10. Slovenia +92
  11. Cyprus +63
  12. Malta +29
  • Total +61,422

During 2021, 2,368 Estonian citizens, 655 Romanian citizens, 604 Latvian citizens and 453 Polish citizens immigrated to Finland. A total of 4,954 people immigrated from the Eastern EU member states, 61% of all incoming EU immigrants and 18% of all immigrants.

Around 30,000 people migrate to Finland annually, with most coming from Iraq, Syria and Russia. While most immigrants are from Europe, 108,000 are from Asia and 50,000 from Africa.

Modern day

The most common reasons to immigrate to Finland were family reasons (32%), work (30%) and studying (21%).

In 2017, hundreds of Muslim asylum seekers from Iraq and Afghanistan converted to Christianity after having had their first asylum application rejected by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri), in order to re-apply for asylum on the grounds of religious persecution.

In September 2022, Finland announced that it would not offer asylum to Russians fleeing mobilization.

Chronology of 2015

  • On 13 September 2015, it was reported that the local authorities had estimated the flow of 300 asylum seekers per day entering via the northern land border from Sweden into Tornio, which is the main route of migration flow into Finland. The total number of asylum seekers for the year was reported to be over 2.6 times the total amount for the whole of the previous year.
  • During October 2015, 7,058 new asylum seekers arrived in Finland. In mid-October the number of asylum seekers entering Finland during 2015 reached 27,000, which is, in relation to the country's size, the fourth-largest in Europe. In late November, the number passed 30,000, nearly ten-fold increase compared to the previous year. In September, The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) estimated that processing time of an asylum application may be extended from normal six months up to two years. In late November, the reception centers were reported to be rapidly running out of space, forcing the authorities resorting to refurbished shipping containers and tents to house new asylum seekers. The Interior Minister Petteri Orpo estimated that two in three asylum seekers come to Finland in hopes of higher standard of living.
  • In November, the Permanent Secretary of the Interior Ministry stated that approximately 60–65% of the recent applications for asylum will be denied.
  • In late October, The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) changed its guidelines about areas in Iraq which are recognised as safe by the Finnish authorities,
  • In late November, it was reported that more than 700 Iraqis had voluntarily cancelled their asylum applications during September and October. According to the officials of Migri, some of the Iraqi asylum seekers have had erroneous assumptions about the country's asylum policy.
  • On 22 November 2015, it was reported that Finland had appealed to Russia with a proposal to prohibit the crossings at some of the land borders by bicycle.
  • On 27 December 2015, it was reported that Finland had blocked access for people to cross over two Russian border crossings (Raja-Jooseppi and Salla) by bicycles. Many asylum seekers were reported to have earlier crossed the border by bicycles.
  • On 3 December, the Interior Minister Petteri Orpo announced that special repatriation centers would be established. These centers would be inhabited by the asylum seekers whose applications were declined. While he stressed that these camps would not be prisons, he described the inhabitants would be under strict surveillance.
  • On 4 December 2015, Finland reportedly closed one of its northern border checkpoints before the scheduled time along the Finnish–Russian border. According to Russian media, due to the closure, asylum seekers could not enter the country.
  • On 12 December 2015, Finnish Interior Minister Petteri Orpo announced that if the external borders of EU cannot be secured, then Schengen, Dublin and in a way the whole EU is under serious threat. Further he noted that Finland has imprisoned two asylum seekers, charging them with 11 cases of murder. According to Orpo, because of the failure in registering asylum seekers at the external borders, they can travel all the way to Finland via northern Sweden. He noted that border controls have been improved in harbours, airports and land border crossings with Sweden.

Chronology of 2016

  • On 2 January 2016, it was reported that Finland had issued a command for the Finnlines ferry crossing from Germany to Finland to refuse boarding asylum seekers without visa. German NGOs criticised the decision, and it was still unclear how it could be enforced, especially as a direct visa from Germany to Finland is not available.
  • On 23 January 2016, it was reported, that Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini concluded that "closing the eastern border is possible". He stated that if an asylum seeker does not have need for protection, they will lose their money and get themselves deported. As Finland was struggling with a declining economy and increasing unemployment, he noted that resources of police forces, border control, security "need to be organized". On 24 January, YLE, Finland's national public-broadcasting company, reported that a Russian border guard had admitted that the Federal Security Service was enabling migrants to enter Finland.
  • On 23 February, the Finnish press reported that the profile of national origin of asylum seekers had changed, with a rise of Indian and Bangladeshi asylum seekers, so that the third largest group of asylum seekers after Afghans and Iraqis were Indians, the fourth Syrians and the fifth Bangladeshis.

2023

In November of 2023, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo announced the closure of all but the northernmost border crossing with Russia, amid a sudden increase in asylum seekers seeking to enter Finland via Russia. Finland accused Russia of deliberately using refugees as weapons as part of its hybrid warfare following worsening relations between the two countries. Frontex subsequently announced that the EU would assist Finland in securing its eastern border.

Demographics

Finnish and foreign born population pyramid in 2021

Sources of immigration

RankCountryNumberPercentage
1Russia2,39010.4
2Ukraine1,4226.2
3Estonia1,3585.9
4China1,0054.4
5India1,0034.4
6Iraq8903.9
7Vietnam7403.2
8Iran6612.9
9Sweden6512.8
10Turkey6512.8
*Top 10 total*10,77147.0
*Other*12,13453.0
**Total****22,905****100**

Adoption

Between 1987 and 2021, a total of 5,708 people were adopted in Finland who were born in another country. This comprised 42% of all adoptions during the time period.

Adoptions by country of birth 1987–2021:

  1. PRC China (1,033)
  2. Russia (860)
  3. Thailand (785)
  4. Colombia (594)
  5. South Africa (541)
  6. Soviet Union (288)
  7. Ethiopia (287)
  8. Philippines (239)
  9. India (202)
  10. Estonia (152)

608 were adopted from other countries while for 119 adoptions the country was unknown.

Population by origin and background countries

Country1990200020102021
EstoniaEU Estonia3417,33825,51351,695
Iraq2033,6869,12726,653
Somalia496,25612,86823,409
Yugoslavia1285,2709,30314,561
China4412,2916,92614,339
Vietnam1,8414,0796,56613,291
Afghanistan53843,42112,044
Thailand3871,7946,74711,974
Turkey4122,3236,07211,392
Syria3821152111,000
India4341,1824,30610,749
Russia961,4243,83110,664
Iran5162,6505,16410,129
SwedenEU Sweden3,0013,9816,0067,507
GermanyEU Germany2,4373,5825,9217,402
United Kingdom1,6382,7314,5477,208
Ukraine41718584,269
Philippines2487521,7757,087
United States2,3982,9034,0826,217
PolandEU Poland9651,1932,8805,807
RomaniaEU Romania1537601,8805,628
Nepal6891,1765,012
Pakistan1304361,5144,882
Bangladesh954791,6734,731
Nigeria893031,4964,607
Morocco3951,1512,1364,106
DR Congo64511,5484,068
LatviaEU Latvia92561,0713,626
ItalyEU Italy4759581,7903,395
SpainEU Spain4737791,6503,371
FranceEU France5071,0891,9363,129
BulgariaEU Bulgaria2485081,1693,123
Ethiopia1086421,4553,100
HungaryEU Hungary5409331,6692,777
Ghana673221,0702,611
Brazil1532899802,368
Myanmar7731,4252,154
LithuaniaEU Lithuania02047862,130
Sudan11721,2272,080
Kenya711738812,062
Norway8529541,5201,971
NetherlandsEU Netherlands3917321,2721,874
Egypt1954228081,808
GreeceEU Greece3024686981,779
Cameroon4336001,773
Canada9051,1811,4531,755
Sri Lanka1073307731,704
Eritrea017941,680
Japan2405079971,547
Algeria2104678261,521
Albania0421971,465
Australia4266569601,402
Colombia1244188541,380
Bosnia01,6271,7791,329
Gambia232064921,281
Switzerland4096159121,247
Mexico631535181,224
South Africa1082086211,216
Tunisia1453126711,197
DenmarkEU Denmark5277088651,167
Czech RepublicEU Czech Republic2453426111,139
Uzbekistan0911591,129
PortugalEU Portugal54118349937
Lebanon109325537903
South Korea36108348896
Indonesia34133332876
BelgiumEU Belgium107206452852
Israel330465708795
Moldova012100778
Belarus0167393739
IrelandEU Ireland83200433736
AustriaEU Austria238312512715
Serbia00894715
SlovakiaEU Slovakia051258711
Angola3143497684
Peru66176402678
Chile183227369668
Cuba17153359637
Tanzania56146424630
Saudi Arabia16201243599
Malaysia134224372585
Rwanda229238576
Argentina101157290571
Zambia4270148547
CroatiaEU Croatia0260281535
Kazakhstan0295318490
Jordan51135253458
Cambodia78149283429
Yemen32338423
Uganda729145416
Venezuela1434107388
UAE133678353
Kuwait349116330
Libya1968162313
Singapore2960148308
New Zealand3486178294
Ecuador1545150292
Senegal1034123272
North Macedonia0144199270
Dominican Republic941121240
Azerbaijan01083228
CyprusEU Cyprus4076121228
Iceland74120150199
Nicaragua54986198
Sierra Leone2052119194
Bolivia1550122191
Liberia646138191
SloveniaEU Slovenia01080184
Cote d'Ivoire125098179
Congo1718114172
Namibia482971170
Zimbabwe92362168
Georgia06565163
Armenia02585162
Burundi3649159
Guinea4955153
Honduras41537144
Uruguay325180134
Kyrgyzstan0580133
LuxembourgEU Luxembourg183275122
Togo31456114
Mongolia11648111
Palestine1732108
MaltaEU Malta8213184

Distribution

MunicipalityImmigrants%
1.Helsinki116,00417.6
2.Espoo59,83720.1
3.Vantaa56,02723.4
4.Turku25,75613.2
5.Tampere20,9358.6
6.Oulu10,2454.9
7.Lahti9,6458.0
8.Jyväskylä8,2195.7
9.Vaasa6,79310.0
10.Lappeenranta6,0738.4

Immigrants overwhelmingly settle in cities; 85% of immigrants in Finland live in cities and their surroundings. Only 11% live in the countryside, with most of them being from other European countries. Immigrants from the Middle East and Africa are the most heavily concentrated group in cities.

Employment

The most common job for immigrants in 2017 was real estate cleaner, at 11,328. The second most common was restaurant jobs at 10,696, and the third was labour hire at 8,437. Immigrants make up 26.9% of real estate cleaners, despite only making up 6.3% of the population.

Around 20,000 immigrants in Finland are searching for jobs. Around 70% of net immigrants are in the working age (18–64), and most of them are young adults.

The unemployment rate among Finnish-born was 12.4% in 2020, while it was 23.6% among immigrants born abroad. Immigrants from other EU-countries had the lowest unemployment rate (16.9%), while African immigrants had the highest rate (32.5%).

Immigrant languages

Immigration has greatly increased the number of languages spoken in Finland. In 1990, there were 6 foreign languages in Finland with over 1,000 speakers. In 2021, that number has jumped to 46. The most spoken immigrant languages are Russian (87,600), Estonian (50,200), Arabic (36,500), English (25,600), Somali (23,700), Persian (16,400) and Kurdish (16,000). In total 458,000 people speak an immigrant language, which is 8.3% of the population.

In 1990, the most spoken ones were Russian (3,900), English (3,600), German (2,400), Vietnamese (1,600), Estonian (1,400) and Arabic (1,100). The total number of foreign language speakers was less than 25,000 (0.5%).

Citizenship

From 1990 to 2021, a total of 159,342 foreigners have acquired Finnish citizenship. In 2018, 97% of foreigners who were granted Finnish citizenship, kept their previous nationality. Finland had the fourth highest naturalisation rate (proportionally to population of non-national residents) in the EU in 2020. 16% of Finnish citizenships granted were granted to other EU citizens in 2021.

Country2015201620172018201920202021
1,7282,0282,7581,7661,9461,5461,161
560534742621589602744
9551,066957856583541436
420459705541658516370
2847118118299205360
165206212210248196282
242376469339309264227
150193261249281304209
145163281202255220171
140222309244205156155
146225249197221148140
229264313210260172125
74123178125132119106
137193245154174181105
7910614118222512497
13115022318313810096
731084218321413481
263114713421112680
100140176105977280
17917528315711310067
1351432281101217059
568711880533958
616911172936455
776711071776943
668387120668437
13014019091897035
891291301621057535
639011280613820
**Total****7,921****9,375****12,219****9,211****9,649****7,816****6,643**

Effects of immigration

Costs

According to a macroeconomic study immigrants, refugees and migrants, arriving Finland benefits its economy within five years of arrival. In the case of asylum seekers the reach positive effect to the economy takes longer, from three to seven years. In Finland, asylum seekers face many restrictions on working that slows down their possibilities to contribute to the economy.

Most of immigration's cost to the society consists of welfare. Because immigrant families have on average more children than their Finnish counterparts, they receive more welfare. Income support, housing benefits and unemployment benefits of immigrants cost nearly 300 million euros in 2009, and the social and health benefits of immigrants cost 200 million euro annually. Around 110–112 million euros goes to refugee quotas.

According to the Ministry of the Interior (Finland) in 2009, asylum seekers in Finland during their asylum process received one of the highest rates of benefits in Europe.

Crime

First records of immigrant crime was in 1919–1932, when the Prohibition in Finland started. Most of the alcohol were smuggled from Estonia or other European countries, like Poland and Germany. The smugglers were usually Finns, Germans, Swedes or Estonians. In the late 1990s, Estonia became a transit country for drugs that were brought to Finland. Both Finns and Estonians have managed the trade together.

In the last 10 years immigrant crime has increased by 56%. As high as 90% of burglaries in Finland are done by immigrants.

In 2016, illegal drugs like Rivotril were beginning to be sold in Helsinki Railway Square, Itäkeskus and Kallio by foreigners from Central Europe. Furthermore, seizures of cocaine have been increasing to some extent in recent years.

In 2011, of all the immigrants in prison, 27% were Estonian citizens, 13% Romanian citizens, 10% Russian citizens and 6% Lithuanian citizens.

Even though less than 5% of the Finnish population consists of foreign citizens, they account for 25% of reported sex crimes. In 2018, 1393 cases of rape were reported to the police. According to official statistics from 2005, 27% of all rapes in Finland were committed by foreigners, even though they only comprised 2.2% of the population back then. Many of them are Afghans and Iraqis .

Illegal immigrants

There are around 3,000–10,000 illegal immigrants in Finland living in 42 of the 309 Finnish municipalities, with the highest number living in Helsinki.

Discrimination

Main article: Racism in Finland

According to a study done by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in 2017, 60% of Sub-Saharan African immigrants in Finland had experienced discrimination in the past five years. This was significantly higher than the EU average of 39%. Women and first-generation immigrants experienced the most discrimination. Most discrimination was faced in public and private services. It was also experienced during studying, job seeking and at work. Most discrimination goes unreported, though the ones living in Finland reported the most. Roughly a third of respondents had reported their discrimination.

24.1% of Finnish women with a foreign-background and 32.4% of men had experienced physical or psychological abuse over the previous year in 2018. Asian women (excluding West Asia) experienced the least amount of abuse (19.7%) while Sub-Saharan African men experienced the most (49%). Harassment experienced by people with a foreign-background varies depending on the region. Foreigners in Ostrobothnia had the lowest share of people who had experienced abuse (15.2%) while those in Päijät-Häme had the highest share (32.1%). The region which contains the vast majority of foreigners had the second highest share (30.3%).

Public opinion

In 1993, Finns were most accepting of Norwegian, Ingrian, British, American and Swedish migrants. They were least accepting of Russian, Yugoslavian, Turkish, African, Vietnamese and Chilean migrants.

In a 2015 online survey by YLE, Finns were most accepting of German, Swedish, Estonian, British and US American immigrants. In the same survey Iran, Iraq and Romania were the least accepted countries of origin of foreign immigrants.

According to a 2016 poll, many Finns were concerned simultaneously about unemployed immigrants and immigrants taking local jobs.

Comparison with other European Union countries 2023

According to Eurostat 59.9 million people lived in the European Union in 2023 who were born outside their resident country. This corresponds to 13.35% of the total EU population. Of these, 31.4 million (9.44%) were born outside the EU and 17.5 million (3.91%) were born in another EU member state.

CountryTotal population (1000)Total Foreign-born (1000)%Born in other EU state (1000)%Born in a non EU state (1000)%
EU 27448,75459,90213.317,5383.931,3686.3
Germany84,35916,47619.56,2747.410,20212.1
France68,1738,94213.11,9892.96,95310.2
Spain48,0858,20417.11,5803.36,62413.8
Italy58,9976,41710.91,5632.64,8548.2
Netherlands17,8112,77715.67484.22,02911.4
Greece10,4141,17311.32352.29389.0
Sweden10,5222,14420.45485.21,59615.2
Austria9,1051,96321.68639.51,10012.1
Belgium11,7432,24719.19388.01,30911.1
Portugal10,4671,68416.13783.61,30612.5
Denmark5,93380413.62634.45419.1
**Finland****5,564****461****8.3****131****2.4****330****5.9**
Poland36,7549332.52310.67021.9
Czech Republic10,8287647.11391.36255.8
Hungary9,6006446.73423.63023.1
Romania19,0555302.82021.13281.7
Slovakia5,4292133.91562.9571.0
Bulgaria6,4481692.6580.91111.7
Ireland5,2711,15021.83486.680215.2

Notes

References

References

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  2. (2025-04-04). "Number of foreign-language speakers exceeded 600,000 during 2024". Statistics Finland.
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  4. "Maahanmuuton historia Suomessa Jouni Korkiasaari (2017)".
  5. JYRKI PAASKOSKI: [http://www.genealogia.fi/genos/64/64_138.htm Vanhan Suomen donataarit ja tilanhoitajat – katsaus aatelisten lahjoitusmaatalouteen vuosina 1710–1811] {{Webarchive. link. (2007-10-26 - ''Genos'' 64 (1993), s. 138–152)
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  7. Leo Yllö: Inkerin maa ja luonto. – Inkerin suomalaisten historia. Inkerin kulttuuriseura, Helsinki 1969
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