The number of immigrants coming to Finland is falling, the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) said on Friday.
The number of applications for workers, students and international protection decreased last year. Citizenship applications fell by more than one-third, while deportations soared by more than 40 percent.
Labour-related immigration declined by 25 percent compared to the previous year. The agency blames the decrease on the country's economic and employment situation.
"The decrease in labour-related immigration is primarily due to the weak development of the Finnish economy in recent years. The uncertain future prospects of companies and organisations and high unemployment have reduced the demand for foreign labour," Johannes Hirvelä, Migri’s Director of Information Services, said in a press release.
The largest number of applications for work-based residence permits were from citizens of India, the Philippines, China, Vietnam and Thailand.
Meanwhile, there was a four percent decline in the number of international students after years of growth.
Altogether, Migri received some 180,000 applications last year, of which 80 percent were approved. These included 110,000 residence permit decisions, 5,000 asylum decisions and 11,000 temporary protection decisions – mostly for Ukrainians.
The number of asylum applications decreased further last year, while the number of Ukrainians arriving in Finland remained at the previous year's level.
"Although there have been more conflicts and crises in the past year, the number of asylum applications continued to drop. However, the number of asylum applications is susceptible to rapid changes if there are major changes in the political or security situation in key areas of origin," Hirvelä pointed out.
Citizenship applications plunging
The number of citizenship applications climbed to record-high levels in 2023-24, before the first amendments to the Citizenship Act came into force.
The right-wing government led by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP), which took office in mid-2023, tightened the Citizenship Act in late 2024. It then extended the minimum residence period required to obtain citizenship from five to eight years. It added more stringent restrictions to the Act last spring, along with a raft of other stricter new immigration-related rules.
Last year, the number of citizenship applications plunged by 34 percent compared to the year before, totalling just over 11,200.
There was a slight increase in the number of applications for family members, totalling around 24,000. Such applications have been on the rise since 2021.
Deportations up by 41%
Last year, the agency made 2,800 deportation decisions for people who were in Finland with residence permits, a 41-percent increase from 2024. The agency deported 3,100 people who were in Finland without residence permits.
Citizens of Russia, Iraq and Turkey received the most deportation decisions.
"The increase in deportation decisions is due to changes in legislation, more effective follow-up monitoring and an increase in deportation requests made by the police," explained Hirvelä.
