Immigrants account for half of Finland’s population growth

From a recent news article in the Helsingin Sanomat -

The Finnish population is now growing largely thanks to an influx of immigrants. From 2007 onwards, more than half of the country’s population growth has been from immigration. Before that, most of the growth in the Finnish population was attributed to children born to Finnish citizens, as well as a relatively low death rate. “Immigration is no longer a marginal phenomenon. We are now at the European average”, says Arno Tanner of the Finnish Immigration Service.

The number of foreign citizens living in Finland has increased more than six-fold in the past 20 years. The total number of immigrants living in Finland is about 170,000. In 1999 fewer than 15,000 immigrants settled in Finland. Last year the number was nearly 25,000. Some of the immigration was by returning migrants – Finnish expatriates who are now coming back.

A surge in immigration took place in 2004. “The EU expanded and impediments to movement of labour were lifted. Immigration has nevertheless increased considerably from all continents”, says Matti Saari of Statistics Finland.

In 2010 there were 24,000 applicants for residence permits, 16,000 of whom were accepted. The biggest group, nearly 4,500, came to Finland to study, while 3,000 were granted residence permits for work. Of the more than 4,000 applicants for asylum, 1,800 were accepted. “Asylum seekers get more attention, even though there is ten times more work-based immigration”, Tanner points out.

Tanner predicts that applications for asylum will increase considerably, especially from the restless areas of North Africa. Saari and Tanner point out that immigration is an important source of labour, especially for urban areas of Finland. “It is unlikely that the unemployed in Finland could be re-educated in such a way that they could meet the need for labour especially in the caring professions”, Tanner says.

Statistics Finland reports that a fifth of foreigners of working age living in Finland were unemployed in 2008. Saari explains this relatively small figure with the fact that to be officially listed as unemployed, a person has to register with an employment office and to be available for job offers. Being approved as a legal immigrant also often requires that the person should have a job. “Many take the assumption that their language skills are insufficient, and consequently do not bother to register”, Saari says.

“Employment is a key element of integration. It is not possible to get a job if you don’t know the language”, Arno Tanner says. He sees much room for improvement in language training for immigrants. About one in four immigrants are outside the work force.